


You Must Be a Thief (You Stole My Heart)

by cafe_au_late



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: AU where the Black Eagles are a group of infamous thieves, Byleth likes fishing and puns and fishing puns, Edeleth centric, F/F, F/M, Kind of a Leverage AU, M/M, Other characters show up eventually but this story isn't ABOUT them
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-16
Updated: 2021-01-02
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:41:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 22
Words: 158,079
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23687848
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cafe_au_late/pseuds/cafe_au_late
Summary: The Black Eagles were a group of infamous thieves, taking whatever they wanted from the trickiest of places, reminding the rich and powerful that they were not above the Eagles' talons. An interrupted heist brings a new member to the group and with their new member comes feelings- new and old, more secrets, and powerful enemies. As their heists begin to take on a new direction, the Eagles need to come together to move past their faults, mistakes, and pasts.  But how can they learn to trust when everyone around them are liars, thieves, and criminals?
Relationships: Caspar von Bergliez/Linhardt von Hevring, Dorothea Arnault/Petra Macneary, Edelgard von Hresvelg/My Unit | Byleth, Ferdinand von Aegir/Hubert von Vestra
Comments: 267
Kudos: 474





	1. The Black Eagles

**Author's Note:**

> I went back and forth on this first chapter for a long time, changing things and then not liking it and changing it back. I figured that I ought to leave it be and just post it instead of agonizing over it. Worst case scenario, I'd come back and edit it. This first chapter is a bit of a long one, but I think it moves along quite nicely. But yeah, this is gonna be a journey. I also have a bunch of little scenes that I wrote out and then ultimately decided to cut because it didn't flow nicely, so I might post those as a side thing at some point? Who knows.

_“I have the cameras. Security will not realize what is happening for another five minutes.”_

“Thank you Hubert. Are you in place Petra?” Edelgard murmured, bringing her champagne flute up to her lips to cover the slight movement of her lips, voice just low enough for the coms to pick up.

_“I will be needing fifteen seconds only.”_

Edelgard scanned the crowded room with a practiced eye, the Remire Summer Festival brought people of all sorts, dressed to the nines to the Remire Museum. They were all decked out in impossibly expensive dresses and suits and jewelry, one could retire quite happily with the funds that a handful of these pieces would provide. But alas, there was a bigger prize to be had.

From across the room, she could spot a beautiful brunette, emerald green eyes sparkling as she waltzed with a nameless man. Her classy black dress hugged her in all the right spots, baring just enough skin so as to not be too garish but enough to keep your gaze on her, wanting more. Edelgard watched as she spun close to the edge of the dance floor, in front of a purple haired waitress with a tray of appetizers, close enough to brush the waitress’ tray with her hand that was not occupied with her partner’s. It was only a second before her partner pulled her back into the waltz, but a second was all that was needed.

_“G-got the key from Dorothea.”_

The waitress melted into the crowd, even with her purple hair and Edelgard’s trained eyes, Bernadetta was impossible to track. The girl just disappeared into nothingness, a needle in a well dressed haystack. 

A movement to the side of the room caught her eye. It was rough, jerky, and completely out of place among the delicate poise and smooth flourishes of the wealthy and upper class in attendance at the festival. A roughly groomed face with light brown hair bundled into a suit that looked too small and ready to pop open at any moment appeared amid the crowd, standing out like a sore thumb.

“Kostas.” Edelgard breathed, recognizing the scruffy thug.

_“What?”_

“Kostas is here, in the main hall. His lackeys must be around as well.” Edelgard grimaced. She had dealt with the man before, before she had the Black Eagles. He was primitive, crude, and cared only for money. At one point, Edelgard had thought that his brawn could have been useful- but his clear lack of brains severely compromised what little use that he had. She had terminated his employment very quickly once it became clear that he would be more troublesome than helpful, and ever since, he had been an annoyance, getting in her way and trying to get the rest of the money they had agreed upon had he been actually helpful and successful in their deal or trying to kill her.

 _“I’ll keep an eye out for them.”_ Edelgard was glad that she had Hubert as her eyes in the skies. There was nobody else she would rather have watching her back.

_“Who is Kostas?”_

“Not now, Ferdinand. I will fill everyone in after this is done. Let’s move up the timeline and move in now. I want to be out of here as quickly as possible.” 

There was a brief pause. 

A cough came over the coms. That was Ferdinand’s signal to Bernadetta as he moved the patrolling security guard out of place with his obnoxious Ferdinand charm.

_“P-Petra, north exit is open.”_

_“I am having the package now.”_

“Ferdinand, Dorothea, time to go.” Edelgard set down the empty champagne flute and turned away from the room. Calm, purposeful strides brought her to the entryway, where she was met with a smiling Dorothea, slightly breathless, having just extricated herself from her dance partner and moved through the crowd opposite from where Kostas was standing.

“Ah darling! There you are, would you be so kind to accompany me to the bathrooms?” Dorothea looped an arm around Edelgard’s own as they made their way into the entrance hall.

_“I have Ferdinand, Petra, and Bernadetta. Package is secure. We’ll see you back at base.”_

_“I’ll race you back, Lin!”_

_“Caspar, coms are for vital transmissions only. Don’t forget to pick up Edelgard and Dorothea before you leave.”_

_“That was one time, Lin!”_

_“Kostas is on the move. I would advise you to hurry."_ Edelgard was grateful that Hubert cut the two of them off before they could continue.

Edelgard nodded at Dorothea and they headed down a side hallway. While the front entrance may be the most direct way out, it was far too open for Edelgard’s liking. There was nowhere to hide, just a straight sprint down the steps- too risky.

They turned a corner into another doorway and into the service corridors. They were dimly lit and the two of them broke into a sprint, heels clicking loudly against the concrete flooring. Security cameras turned away from them as they ran, Hubert masterfully moving them so they would leave no trace.

Beneath the sound of their sprinting though, Edelgard could hear another. Another set of footfalls. Not heels. Something with a more rubberized sole. Timed to match their own, trying to blend into the sound of the two of them. 

“Someone’s following us,” Edelgard hissed, more into her com than anything else.

The service door came into view ahead of them. On the other side would be Caspar and Hubert, waiting in the escape vehicle. 

_“I can not see anything on the cameras.”_

Dorothea reached the door first and burst through it, the cold night air rushing in as if to replace her presence. And at the same time, Edelgard heard a rough voice growl, almost with glee, “I’ve got you now!” 

She turned.

Kostas. Sweat on his brow. Suit jacket popped open. Gun drawn.

The first shot went wide, the gunshot echoing in the metal corridor as the bullet ricochet off the wall, sparks flying. A warning. “I won’t miss again. I don’t know what you came here for tonight, but I want you to leave it with me or I’ll shoot. I know your little posse can hear me.”

 _“Edelgard? It’ll take me sometime to come back. I’m no Caspar, but I can be back, two minutes at most.”_ She could hear the shake in Linhardt’s voice, all traces of his usual sarcasm gone.

It was an empty hallway. No doors, no objects to hide behind. She didn’t carry a gun with her. There was a second hallway to her left, running perpendicular to the one that she stood in now. Maybe she could run down that way? Force him to chase her back through the monastery?

She could hear in the distance, alarms going off- most likely in response to the gunshot. Time was running out- security and law enforcement would converge on them soon. Kostas knew it too.

“Say goodbye then, brats.” Edelgard tensed, ready to throw herself to the side when a dark teal blur slammed into her. Almost instantaneously, there were two gunshots as Edelgard was thrown into the ground, a weight covering her entire body. The telltale crackle of a taser being discharged. Then a heavy thump.

Her ears were ringing from the gunshots. Distantly she could hear the panicked voices through the coms. Her mind wasn’t registering any of their words though. From her position on the ground, she could see Kostas’ limp form, still convulsing- the wired electrodes protruding from his chest. That was when she realized that there was someone on top of her. Something wet was dripping down the side of her neck. She reached up instinctively, and in the dim light, her hand came away red.

Startled, she sat up, pushing whoever it was on top of her off to the side. It was a woman. Dark teal hair, wild and unkempt. A red stain was beginning to grow on the white shirt underneath the black jacket. Edelgard did not recognize her. Why had she thrown herself in front of two bullets meant for a stranger? 

She seemed stunned, cornflower blue eyes glazed over, staring up at the ceiling. Unmoving. Edelgard’s heart skipped a beat.

In the distance, Edelgard could hear thunderous footsteps running down the hallway. Security, she surmised.

In that split second, as she got to her feet, she made a decision.

“We’ve got an extra package.”

* * *

It took Lindhardt all of ten minutes to get their mystery package patched up. They laid her on a chaise lounge in the library of the Black Eagles homebase. Hubert had taken one look at the blood covered Edelgard climbing into their getaway vehicle with an extra person in tow, and before Edelgard could even get a word out, was chloroforming said extra person.

“Was the chloroform really necessary, Hubie?” Dorothea peered over the back of the chaise lounge, examining the unconscious form before them. She had caught Edelgard in the hallway as the two of them finished changing out of their festival outfits and joined her in the library.

“I do not know what the next steps are. But it's best that our location is not revealed. This was the best way of ensuring that.” Hubert was already busily tapping at his phone. Edelgard knew he was already trying to dig up information on their unconscious guest- he hated not knowing things, especially when the unknown was in the middle of their homebase.

“I-I mean she saved Edelgard’s life right? S-she couldn’t be all bad?” Bernadetta suddenly spoke up. Dorothea nearly jumped out of her shoes. Nobody had realized that their shy forger had entered the room at some point.

“I am thinking that Hubert is just having extra caution.” 

“Gah!” Dorothea jumped again at the sound of Petra’s voice right in her ear. “We seriously need to put a bell on the two of you. You’re going to give me a heart attack if you keep creeping up on me like this.”

“My apologies,” Petra smiled warmly at Dorothea.

“I think you should have better awareness of the room Dorothea,” Ferdinand stepped into the library, two sets of handcuffs dangling from an outstretched finger. “Two sets of the trickiest cuffs that I could find, as requested.” He placed them in Edelgard’s open palm.

“Ferdinand, you should really go back to your room if you’re going to be doing that kind of thing. Although, I didn’t know you and Hubert were into hand-” Caspar stopped abruptly, mid sentence, having finally rounded the corner and realized what was happening in the library. 

“What were you saying about Ferdinand and I, Caspar?” there was a dark glint in Hubert’s eye as he strode forward.

“Nothing!” Caspar yelped, as he ducked behind a set of armchairs in an attempt to avoid Hubert, nearly running Bernadetta over. 

“I don’t blame you, Hubie. Look at Ferdie! In terms of being charming, he’s second to only me. I’d fall for him if I were in your shoes.” Dorothea winked at Ferdinand, who had the decency to blush and look very determinedly at the ceiling.

“I’m finished.” Lindhardt interrupted. He got up, peeling the bright blue nitrile gloves off and collecting his medical supplies. “I’m finished patching up our mystery guest and with this ridiculous conversation.” He looked exasperated. “There’ll be some bruising. The bulletproof vest took the brunt of the first bullet. No lasting damage there, just some bruised ribs I think. I won’t know if they’re fractured or not unless we steal an x-ray machine next or until she’s awake.”

“And the arm?” Edelgard nodded at the bicep tightly wrapped in gauze and bandages.

“It looks worse than it really is. I cleaned it and stitched it up. It’ll definitely scar over but I don’t think she minds adding to her collection of scars.” Linhardt gestured at the myriad of scars that could be seen on her body. 

Edelgard pressed her lips into a thin line, this woman could probably match her in terms of sheer numbers of scars. She resisted the urge to keep looking at a particularly nasty scar that started at the other woman’s clavicle and travelled down her chest, ending somewhere underneath the grey tank top that she wore underneath the bulletproof vest.

“Dorothea, could you see about getting these clothes taken care of?” Edelgard handed her a bloodied suit jacket that had seen better days and a blouse in a similar sorry state. 

“What about the bulletproof vest?” Dorothea took the clothes without so much a second glance at them. Sometimes, Edelgard forgot that for all of Dorothea’s elegant and graceful appearance, she had been brought up in a rough environment, bloody clothes were nothing to her.

“I hope she’s not attached to it.” Caspar remarked, holding up the mangled vest. “I’m surprised it even blocked that last bullet. This thing’s structural integrity is more compromised than a public wifi network.”

“Let’s get her a new one,” Edelgard sighed. How did she keep running into eccentrics in this line of work? “Linhardt, is it alright if I cuff her? With her arm being like that?”

“Ooh, Edie. First want to buy her a new vest and now you want to handcuff her? Ferdie, we best be careful, or Edelgard is going to take over our roles in the team. ” Dorothea teased. She had been headed out of the library but paused to wink salaciously at Edelgard. 

Ferdinand responded with an amused grin as he strode out of the room. “Come now, Dorothea. You know that Edelgard could not possibly hope to match us in the charisma department.” He lowered his voice to a stage whisper, “Let’s go before she decides that she wants to cuff us as well.”

Edelgard opted to ignore Dorothea and Ferdinand. She knew that responding would only fan the flames.

“Petra, darling, do you mind giving me a hand?” Dorothea beckoned for her to follow her with a crooked finger. 

Edelgard nearly missed Petra slipping out of the room after Dorothea despite still looking at the doorway. Maybe one day, she’d ask Petra to teach her.

“You can cuff her. Two bullets didn’t kill her, I highly doubt some handcuffs will.” Linhardt rolled his eyes. “Come on Caspar, let’s get rid of that sorry excuse for a vest and then I can take a nap.” Caspar grinned, and slung the vest over his back. He threw an arm around Linhardt’s shoulders, pleased to be doing something destructive.

“W-wait! I think I can salvage parts of the vest for a new project I’m working on!” Bernadetta scrambled out of the room after them. 

“That’s not very reassuring, Lindhardt.” Edelgard called out after his retreating form.

“I will also take my leave now. I will have a full report on who she is before morning.” Hubert’s fingers were clenched tightly around his phone as he excused himself and left. For a second Edelgard genuinely thought that the screen might crack with how tightly he was holding it.

“Before morning? I think you might be slipping, Hubert.” 

Edelgard swore she heard the sound of glass cracking.

* * *

Left to her own devices, Edelgard settled into an armchair on the far side of the library. She had ensured that their mystery guest was cuffed and then those cuffs were cuffed to the chaise lounge. It was getting late but she planned to get some work done. Even with the successful heist, there was always more to be done. There was the next heist to plan, new jobs to consider, new offers on items that they procured, the list went on. 

Instead of going through the files that Hubert had left for her though, she found herself staring at the woman in the chair. Examining her. Trying to put together a single puzzle from the pieces of dozens, and she had never even seen the cover of the puzzle. She shook her head, there was no point in staring. She had obligations.

With a sigh, she returned to her work.

It would another hour or so before the sounds of rustling drew Edelgard’s attention away from her files. She watched as the figure laying on the chaise twisted from side to side, testing the cuffs and her range of movement.

“You’re awake.”

“I am.” the figure tugged at the cuffs again, trying to twist around in unnatural configurations while her fingers lightly traced the metal, trying to find a way out of them.

“Stop that. You will undo your stitches.” Edelgard said sharply. She stood up and placed her files on the chair behind her. Even as she spoke, she could see the spots of red that were beginning to show through the bandages.

Slowly, Edelgard made her way to the newly awakened figure. She made no effort to conceal her footsteps, letting each step strike loudly against the wooden floors. Each step was deliberate, and she stalked closer, much like a predator would stalk down cornered prey. She placed herself into her mystery’s guest field of view. 

She found those cornflower blue eyes staring up at her. Edelgard was not prepared for the way that they stared at her when the other woman was completely lucid. It was piercing. It made her feel naked, like they could read all of her secrets straight from her soul. She felt her heart rate pick up.

She had to maintain control here. She was the one in charge. Refusing to break eye contact, Edelgard strode forward, an attempt to assert some kind of control by invading the other woman’s space. That was a mistake. Whatever mysterious effect that those bright blue eyes had on her only seemed to magnify the closer that she got.

Edelgard swallowed, her throat suddenly going dry. What was she doing? This was not the first time she had interrogated someone, and this certainly wouldn’t be the last. She would address whatever was happening to her at a later time, preferably when she was alone in her own room. “Why were you in that hallway?”

“That was my second choice of exit if I had just stolen something from the Remire Museum.” The response was smooth, no hesitation. Her expression was hard to read, but Edelgard’s instinct told her she wasn’t lying.

Edelgard narrowed her eyes suspiciously. She had spent a very long time planning the museum heist. They had carefully studied floor plans, guard schedules and patrols, they had even staked out the building multiple times. She had been confident that their plan would work. And it would have flawlessly if not for Kostas. “Your second choice? Who sent you? Where did you get your information from?”

“There’s a better way out.” Her captive shrugged, wincing at the motion. “But nobody sent me. I saw a brochure. It said there was an ancient fish exhibit at the museum and there was a festival. I figured I could catch two fish with one cast. But when I was there, I could just… feel that something else was happening.”

“You knew nothing else going into the festival?” Edelgard asked incredulously. This person had just stumbled into their heist by sheer accident?

“I knew there were many valuable artifacts and an ancient fish exhibit at the museum and that there was a festival.”

“And you just figured it out by watching us?” Edelgard began pacing the length of the library- a habit. She found that it always seemed to help her think if her body was on the move as well. 

“Well I could not see the entire building, they didn’t even let me go see the ancient fish exhibit. So I was just in the main hall. And from what I could tell, there was something being moved. I just didn’t know what.”

“Enough with the ancient fish exhibit. I do not know what you are trying to get at by bringing it up so much.” Edelgard spun so fast to stare at the woman in the chair that she nearly gave herself whiplash. She glared at the other woman, who almost looked like she was sulking. 

The main hall was only a small portion of their overall heist. Nothing overt had been done in the main hall. All small innocuous activities that could easily be brushed off as ordinary. That had been the only thing that had been witnessed? And the heist largely figured out? Edelgard could feel the gears in her head grinding to a halt, struggling to comprehend what she had just been told.

The other woman bounced up again, all traces of the earlier expression gone. “Oh, I nearly forgot. Were you hurt at all? Did the bullets graze you at all?”

Edelgard stared wide-eyed at the other woman like she had suddenly sprouted a second head and turned bright purple. “You are cuffed, captive in an unknown location, by unknown people, with unknown motives, and you are concerned whether or not I was hurt?”

“Well yes, I would not have thrown myself in front of you if I was not concerned.” 

“And why were you so concerned about me? I have never met you. Why did you throw yourself in front of me?”

“Well, that man had a gun. You did not. He was going to shoot you. I had a bulletproof vest on. You did not. Strangers or not. I did not want anyone to be hurt.”

“I cannot let you call that beat up vest bulletproof. You could have very well been killed in that vest. Properly maintained bulletproof vests do not make you invincible, nevermind that wreck that you had been wearing.” Edelgard was taken aback by the simple reasoning. It was very logical, but still, it made no sense.

“That vest was holy.” Byleth sulked again, muttering to herself.

“Excuse me?” Edelgard was confused. She didn’t think that Byleth was a religious person. Who would make a holy vest?

“It was full of holes. It was hole-y.” 

Edelgard stared at her. Was this woman being serious? While on one hand, Edelgard was oddly charmed by the sulking look on this woman’s face, she also could not believe what she was hearing. She closed her eyes, pinching the bridge of her nose and took a few deep breaths to steady herself. “Vest aside. Let me get this straight, you risked your life for a complete stranger because you did not want to see them get hurt?”

“Yes.”

They stared at each other for a moment.

“I do not like guns.” the teal-haired woman helpfully supplied.

Edelgard took a moment to look away and recompose herself after that. Years of training to mask what she thought and felt, shattered at the feet of this woman’s blunt honesty and strange charm. There was something about those blue eyes that drew her in. Something that disarmed her. But at the same time, there was something refreshing about her. In a world where Edelgard had been practically submerged in keeping up appearances and always appearing like she was in control, Byleth’s genuine and straightforward nature was actually quite pleasant.

Edelgard was also certain that if she hadn’t spent all this time in the presence of Dorothea and her captivating charm, she too could be mesmerized by the woman before her. There was so much to unpack with this mystery woman. So many questions, and the answers that she supplied lead only to more questions. Edelgard hated not knowing. 

Nonetheless, her pulse raced, it refused to be tamed with her meager efforts. She hadn’t even felt like this when she was faced with the barrel of a gun. She crossed her arms, frowning, she was afraid she might do something foolish.

The doors on the far side of the room opened just enough for Hubert to slip in. “ _I_ am not slipping. We have here, the Ashen Demon.” He walked up to them, footsteps eerily silent on the wooden floors.

“As in _the_ Ashen Demon?” Edelgard had heard the stories of the Ashen Demon. She had run in similar circles as the infamous mercenary before she founded the Black Eagles. The stories all ended the same- with the Ashen Demon on top and a pile of enemies at her feet. Secretly, Edelgard was glad she managed to mostly extricate herself out of that game while she had still been ahead.

Hubert gestured to Byleth with an open hand. “The one and only, Ashen Demon.”

“I’d appreciate it if you didn’t go telling everyone that. I'd also really prefer that you call me Byleth. .” Byleth quipped. “I like what you have going on here.”

“And what do you think we have going on here?” Edelgard raised an eyebrow faintly at their prisoner. Byleth was deflecting, changing the subject. She would allow this for now.

“You are the Black Eagles are you not?”

“Why would you say that?”

“The painting on the far wall. It’s an original. Stolen a few months ago from a private collector. The guy was a terrible person. But I know the Black Eagles were the ones who made off with the painting. Here, that painting is. Thus, here you are.”

It was _rumoured_ that the Black Eagles had stolen the painting. They never left any trace of their deeds unless they wanted to. The confidence in Byleth’s statement was clear though. She knew. And the fact that she was able to tell that the painting wasn’t a replica from across the room was also impressive. Edelgard tried her best to not let that show. “Stolen things can be bought.”

“Yes. But based on the valuable first editions on the shelves and the chandelier that was stolen two months ago above me, you either are the Black Eagles or the Black Eagles are your personal group of… acquirers. And I don’t think that the Black Eagles would be willing to be in anybody’s pocket.”

Edelgard looked up. The ridiculous chandelier hung above them, it was decorated in various precious stones- now every sparkle and glimmer of the blasted thing seemed to be mocking Edelgard. Maybe she shouldn’t let Dorothea pick what they wanted to steal.

“You seem to know a lot about us.”

“I know enough to get by.” Byleth replied evasively. 

“Then you also know how things will end here.” Edelgard paused, thinking. This woman was far more capable than she let on. A little eccentric, yes. Then again, everyone in the Black Eagles had their eccentricities. And she had taken two bullets for Edelgard so it would seem rather ungrateful but... “But I have no use for you in this situation.” She let the threat hang in the air. From beside her, she could hear Hubert pulling on a pair of leather gloves.

Byleth seemed to pause, as if considering her next words carefully. Something that Edelgard couldn’t recognize flickered across her face. Not an emotion per se, not panic. If Edelgard had to name it, it was almost like she was steeling herself for something.

 _Something foolish._ “So let’s change the situation. Would you consider joining the Black Eagles?”

Byleth blinked. “You are not going to kill me?”

“No.” Edelgard grimaced at the mere thought of it. “We are thieves. Not killers. It would be rather ungrateful of me to kill you after you just saved my life.”

“But he put his gloves on. Menacingly.”

“My hands are cold. Menacingly cold.” Hubert responded, miffed. He had a glint in his eyes that dared her to challenge him otherwise.

“You said that you had no use for me in this situation.”

“Yes, I have no use for a woman of your skill and caliber who is being kept prisoner in my library. I could have stolen a statue of something beautiful to collect dust in my library. That is why I offered you a spot with the Black Eagles.” _Wait what did she just say._

Hubert looked at her, eyebrows raised faintly. So she _had_ said those words out loud. She flushed. What was happening to her?

“So what if I refuse?” 

Edelgard sighed. That was a possibility. Some part of her in her chest seemed to sink. _Disappointment._ She was used to this feeling, but disappointment over this? That hardly seemed appropriate. “We would knock you out and you would wake up in a neutral, safe location. We would go our separate ways and hopefully never cross paths again.”

Byleth mulled it over again, face twisting into a frown of deep thought, brows furrowed together in concentration.

“Do you want some privacy to think about this?” Edelgard gestured with an open hand, intending to dismiss Hubert.

“No no, I would be more than happy to join you. It would be a nice change of pace,” Byleth announced with a grin and took Edelgard’s open hand in a firm handshake, open handcuffs dangling limply from her right hand.

Edelgard and Hubert just stared at her.

* * *

“We have a new target.” Edelgard stood before the group gathered in the common room.

They had taken it easy for the last few weeks just to let Byleth recover and get used to their group dynamics. Byleth fit right in with the rest of the eccentric Black Eagles. They outfitted her with new equipment to replace the shoddy things that Byleth had been equipped with. When Dorothea and Ferdinand found out that all of Byleth’s clothes fit into a single backpack (all of her worldly possessions consisted of a motorbike and a few things that were tossed into a single duffel bag), they took it upon themselves to clothe their newest member. 

Byleth also had very little in way of personal requests. They set up one of the extra rooms for her and she moved in with very little complaint. Her two strange requests were directions to the closest fishing pond and then fish for dinner once a week or so. 

Clothing heists and equipment test runs aside, Edelgard could tell the group was getting antsy. The novelty of having a new member was beginning to wear off. They liked to be kept busy, like an itch that needed to be scratched so that they didn’t scratch each other. Byleth was skilled and the rest of the group made their agreement well known. It was time to put things to the test.

This was the perfect opportunity.

The large screen above the fireplace of the common room lit up, displaying a large oil painting. “This is an original Seiros painting, Red Carnations.” Edelgard pursed her lips, willing herself not to turn to look at the painting. She knew it well. It was a simple white vase on a wooden table. Three red carnations stood proudly in the vase. 

Behind her back, her fingers twisted themselves into the fabric of her blouse, threatening to tear the fabric to shreds. “It’s a lesser sought after work of the great artist, Seiros. Nobody really knew where it has been for the last decade or so. But it has come to my attention that a private collector has recently decided to put it up for auction at the Garnet Auction House here in Remire. And we are going to steal it.”

“The Garnet Auction House is well-secured,” Ferdinand commented, a hand stroking his chin thoughtfully. “What’s our time frame?”

“From what I could tell, the painting is already at the auction house. Most likely in the special vault they keep for important clients, not the main vault. So we do not have the opportunity to try to lift the painting as it is being transported. There is a major auction in two weeks. Such an event will draw in major buyers and I think that they would try to auction it off then as opposed to a smaller event.”

“Two-weeks is not a lot of time. I suppose you are trying to get the painting before it is auctioned off.” Linhardt yawned, draped sleepily over the arm of the couch, barely looking up at the screen. 

“There’s just too many variables with the buyers. I don’t know who will end up with the painting and how they plan to transport it and how many people will be involved and when they will move the painting.” Edelgard shook her head, it was a risky play to try to take it from the buyer in this scenario. Especially considering that they would have even less time to figure out how to get it from the buyer.

“W-we can’t even take it from auction itself. They don’t like to have the item out while it's being auctioned- they have a video feed of it instead.” Even though Bernadetta was the only one speaking, Edelgard still struggled to hear her voice. 

“Do we want to make a fake?” Dorothea frowned at the oil painting as if she could size up how feasible it was to replicate it.

“I-i might need more than two weeks!” Bernadetta squeaked, suddenly very interested in the embroidery on the couch cushions.

“Oh come on Bernadetta! I’ll help you! We’ll have it done in three days!” Caspar laughed, throwing an arm around her shoulders. The sheer force of the movement nearly knocked her off the couch.

“I am thinking that we will be needing to look around the actual house,” Petra frowned as Hubert brought up the floorplan of the building on the screen.

“Wait, who is the seller? Do we know that?” Ferdinand held a hand up, still frowning.

“It’s the Gerths. We do not know which member of the family specifically put it up. Personally, I suspect the head of the Gerth family, Lionel Gerth.” Hubert matched Ferdinand’s frown. He took a sip of his coffee, as if he could wash the name out of his mouth.

“Like _the_ Gerths? Like the founder of the major import and export company?” Ferdinand looked impressed and a little bit skeptical. “They are an old and wealthy family.”

“Yes.” Edelgard looked around at the group. They looked hesitant for the most part. Hubert was serious as always, and Byleth just looked impassive, like they had just been discussing the weather, not plotting to steal a painting.

“We have completed more difficult jobs before, I do not see why a mere auction house should be any different. We have two weeks to work this out.” Hubert pressed another button on his phone, bringing up different security feeds from the auction house.

“Byleth? What do you think?” Edelgard looked at their newest member, who had been silent this entire time. 

Still silent, Byleth got up from her armchair and walked up to Edelgard. For a second, Edelgard thought that she was simply moving to get a better view of the screen but Byleth stopped before her and reached out with both hands to draw Edelgard’s hands from behind her back. Her grip was firm, stilling the nervous fidgeting that Edelgard didn’t even realize was happening. Her hands were warm, and the force of Byleth’s piercing gaze only added to the sudden rush of warmth that Edelgard felt. 

_What was she doing?_

“Would you mind if I took the lead on this operation?”

* * *

_“We’re inside.”_

“Hubert, the guards?” Byleth whispered into the night. 

From her side, Edelgard peered around the corner of a large stone pillar. The two of them were in a back courtyard area, along the side, between a large imposing stone building and an equally large imposing stone fence. The com in Edelgard’s left ear crackled gently.

_“They will be coming up on you in fifteen seconds. They just checked in so you will have about five minutes before anyone realizes they are missing. Ten seconds.”_

Edelgard looked over at her partner, silently counting down on her fingers. The two guards in body armour never stood a chance. Despite her smaller stature, Edelgard’s prowess was unquestionable as she knocked one guard out with a fast chop across the back of his head and the other with an iron chokehold.

“All clear.” Edelgard reported into the coms as she and Byleth moved the two unconscious guards behind some bushes. They would wake up the next morning with some bruises, but very much alive.

The two of them looked up to see the lithe form of Petra soar through the air from the rooftop of the building next to them, easily bridging the gap between the two buildings. She landed silently on the sloped roof, a long rope trailing behind her. The rope went taut as it was tied off, and a moment later, Dorothea followed Petra’s path, sliding down the rope like a makeshift zipline with the aid of a baton. 

_“Cameras are playing a loop. North hallway is clear. You can take the stairs from there directly to the vault. Second patrol is inbound from the west side of the building. It’s a group of three.”_

Above them, the rope fell slack again as Petra cut it loose, letting it fall back into the darkness of the neighbouring building. They didn’t want anyone seeing the rope suspiciously suspended between the two buildings. Wordlessly, Byleth and Edelgard made their way across the back of the building, keeping close to the shadows. It felt like they had been working together for a lifetime. They didn’t need words. The muted footsteps of another group of guards broke the silence. The two of them paused, waiting for the guards to come around the corner.

Edelgard looked up at Byleth with two fingers up. _I’ll take two._

Byleth nodded in affirmation.

There was very little thinking involved. Byleth leapt up into the face of the larger guard as Edelgard pulled the two smaller guards down and out of the way. Despite being busy with her own fight, Edelgard couldn’t help but admire Byleth’s form as she drove her knee into the guard’s ribcage, knocking the wind out of him. It was important that they rendered him unable to call for backup. Two blows in quick succession to his temple followed, rendering him an unmoving heap on the ground. 

Not willing to be shown up, Edelgard quickly pummeled the two guards on the ground into unconsciousness. Looking up, Edelgard found Byleth smiling gently down at her in a way that made her insides twist. Quickly, they added the three extra bodies to their earlier collection in the bushes.

“Maybe when they wake up they’ll think this was all a strange game of sardines.” Byleth mused out loud.

“You and your fish,” Edelgard sighed, shaking her head. They moved back into the shadows to wait for Dorothea and Petra. A few minutes passed. 

_“Are we sure this is going to work?”_ Caspar was getting impatient and anxious with the silence, Edelgard could tell.

“Yes, Byleth’s plan is sound. Just stick to it and everything will be fine.” Edelgard huffed.

_“We are having the target. We are leaving.”_

_“Exterior window alarms on the west side of the building are all silenced.”_

They heard the faint sound of a window opening and the rustle of movement as Dorothea and Petra left in a similar fashion to which they had entered. Petra first with a rope, flitting from an upstairs window to the top of the stone wall, then from the wall to the top of a large van parked in the street. Dorothea followed, a bag strapped securely across her back, zipping down the rope and into Petra’s waiting arms. The rope went slack again as sounds of a vehicle starting and pulling away into the night were heard.

_“Petra, Dorothea, and the target are secure. Sorry for doubting your plan. Race you home!”_

“Caspar. If you run a red light on your way back, I will personally pour all of your energy drinks into the drain.” Edelgard was going to kill him if this all went to pieces because of a traffic stop.

_“That light was yellow. Definitely yellow. Right Dorothea?”_

“You can act on your threats after we get back.” Byleth’s hand on Edelgard’s shoulder pulled her back into focus. They had yet to leave the premises. Edelgard discovered during their planning that they both liked to be the last to leave the site of an operation, just to make sure there were no surprises and they weren’t being tailed.

Quickly, they made their way to the far wall, slinking in the bushes and shadows until they reached the spot they had entered through. Caspar was able to park a van posed as a maintenance vehicle for some of the other neighbouring businesses in the other alleyway, with little issue. There were few other avenues of egress, unfortunately. The auction house was placed so there were very few through routes, aside from the main one that led right past its front doors. Most other routes that led up to the building ended in a dead end, forcing you to double back the way you came. The most efficient way out was to have a transport positioned, ready to go.

Edelgard knelt in the dirt behind the bushes and with one fluid motion, boosted Byleth to the top of the stone fence. Byleth grasped the iron spikes along the top of the wall with one hand and hung there, reaching back to hoist Edelgard up to the top of the wall. 

As quickly and quietly as they had come in, they clambered over the wall and into the back street. In the darkness, behind a series of trash bins, Byleth’s motorbike stood, waiting. There just wasn’t much in the alleyway to hide a larger vehicle and it didn’t make sense to have another maintenance vehicle so close.

“I hope you weren’t two tired of waiting for us.” Byleth murmured to her bike. She patted the body of the bike affectionately, talking to it like someone would a cat.

 _“That’s such a bad pun.”_ Despite her complaint, Edelgard could hear the smile in Dorothea’s voice.

Edelgard scanned their surroundings again, double checking to make sure the coast was clear. She was so caught up in looking out that she nearly dropped the helmet that Byleth thrust into her hands.

_“What is she saying that is a pun? How is this a play of words?”_

_“This line is for communications pertaining to the operation only, you can discuss this when they have returned to the base.”_

“Thank you, Hubert.” Edelgard’s voice seemed to echo loudly in her helmet and through the coms. Maybe she’d ask Hubert to create some kind of a helmet mode to reduce such noises.

“Hold tight, Edelgard.” Byleth's eyes were still bright and piercing through her own helmet visor. She drew Edelgard’s arms around her waist. 

Even though there were two helmets between them, Edelgard was forced to look away. It felt like she was staring into the sun, surely she’d go blind with the intensity of Byleth’s attention alone. She felt her ears burning already and was certain that her face was a matching colour. Even so, she tightened her arms around Byleth’s waist and buried her visor into Byleth’s back.

The bike engine rumbled to life and the two of them sped off into the night.

* * *

Everyone was waiting for them by the time they got back to their base. It was one of many bases that they used- an old, well-maintained building on the west side of Remire. The base was secure, gated, and in the middle of a wealthy, thriving community. They liked to hide in plain sight. 

The building had been renovated extensively. The interiors were modern, classy, and very very comfortable. There was an underground garage, not just for housing their vehicles but for a myriad of other more flammable projects. The rooftop had a pool and bar. The remaining five floors in between contained all sorts of other rooms, whatever your heart desired. 

“I trust that your trip back was uneventful?” Hubert greeted them first, standing near the entrance of the common room where everyone liked to gather after completing an operation. He collected their coms, delicately wiping them down and placing them into their respective slots in a slim black case. 

From behind Hubert, Edelgard could see Ferdinand, busy fussing over a large pot on the stove. His talents had not been needed for the operation, and though he had been listening in through the coms, he still felt the need to be doing something while the other members were busy. Edelgard knew that he felt upset at being left behind, having raised quite a fuss about it when the operation had been planned. But there was no need to add another person to the operation. They couldn’t put an additional person at risk when it did not increase their chances any more. 

Despite that though, Edelgard could tell that Ferdinand was already less tense than when they had left. He couldn’t help but join in on everyone else’s joyous mood that an operation had been successful. Maybe Edelgard would have a conversation with him later, just to make sure things were alright. She briefly entertained the thought of asking Hubert to do it instead, but decided against it. It wouldn’t be right, afterall. For all the big talking that he did, Edelgard found that sometimes, he was delicate.

“It was, thank you, Hubert.” Edelgard could only sigh as she sat down heavily in her favourite armchair in the common room. The chair was a faded red and well-worn, but Edelgard enjoyed the way that the oversized chair curved inwards, almost like it was cradling her, making her feel more secure.

Hubert had already pulled up a floor plan on the large screen above the fireplace. The floor plan was covered in various arrows, markings, and notations- mostly Byleth’s scrawling script.

Petra and Dorothea were sitting together on a sofa across the room. Dorothea had a glass of red wine in one hand and her legs draped lazily over Petra’s. Petra seemed to be very intently focused on applying ointment to a growing bruise on Dorothea’s shin.

“Are you alright Dorothea?” Edelgard asked, sitting up suddenly in concern.

Dorothea flapped her free hand at her dismissively. “I’m not used to zipping down ropes all the time. I hit my shin on the roof rack of Caspar’s stupid van.”

“I am having not enough attention. I have apologies. I am not letting you be hurt next time.” Petra never looked up from her task but her voice was quiet, almost guilty.

“You don’t have enough attention? Why Petra, dear, let me give you some more.” Dorothea grinned deviously at the other woman and laid a hand on Petra’s bare bicep. She leaned in closer to Petra’s ear and began to whisper. Whatever was said was lost to Edelgard but it seemed to ease some of the tension Petra was holding in her shoulders. Something inside Edelgard twisted upon seeing how close they were, how close they could be. 

_Jealousy. How unbecoming._

Just as Edelgard was about to get up to return to her room to change and wash her face, she found Byleth hovering next to her. A glass of milk was in one hand and a white mug with a cute little red carnation pattern in the other. A little gift for Edelgard that Byleth had acquired on a more recent trip out with Dorothea. Edelgard found it on her desk one evening, with a scrawled note underneath it: _thanks for not killing me._

Carefully, Byleth handed Edelgard the mug, their fingers brushing against each other as they maneuvered around each other on the handle of the steaming hot mug. Edelgard tried her best to keep the rising blush at bay. The light scent of bergamot tea filled Edelgard’s nose. 

“How did you know this was my favourite?” Edelgard didn’t recall ever telling Byleth this in the few weeks that Byleth had joined them.

“I know enough to get by,” Byleth responded mysteriously with a small smile. 

Edelgard frowned at her, “You really like that answer don’t you? We will have a talk about this one of these days.”

“I will look forward to that,” Byleth seemed genuinely pleased at this notion as she took a sip of her milk. “Also, I spoke with Ferdinand. He understands. He is still a little bit upset but he is doing okay.” Byleth lowered her voice so the others couldn’t hear her.

Edelgar looked up at her in surprise. Did she read her mind? 

Byleth looked down at her with that same mysterious smile, she didn’t seem to be surprised by Edelgard’s surprise. “I know enough to get by.” She repeated in lieu of an answer. And with that, the teal-haired woman turned her attention to the rest of the common room, forcing Edelgard to look at everyone else as well or risk being caught just staring at Byleth. She could just hear Dorothea’s voice teasing her already. 

Lindhardt and Bernadetta were both sitting on the floor in front of the large coffee table. Their heads huddled together as they went over the contents that Dorothea had brought back in the duffel bag. Lindhardt had a pair of glasses with a complicated lens in front of it and was carefully scrutinizing a jewel encrusted skull. Bernadetta was busy making notes in a notebook.

“Should we begin the debrief then?” Hubert returned from his room, having safely stowed the coms away. At that, Caspar popped up from his spot behind the couch. 

“I don’t even want to know what you were doing back there.” Edelgard roused. Caspar only grinned in response.

* * *

“So our heist tonight at the auction house will spook the Gerths to move the painting from the auction house.” Byleth perched on the arm of Edelgard’s armchair. Edelgard watched her carefully examine her seating choices and after a moment decided the arm of the armchair was enough. She clearly didn't feel like playing the third wheel to Petra and Dorothea’s moment on the couch. The other couch was the one Caspar had been hiding behind and was too suspicious for any sort of seating. Ferdinand and Hubert had taken up the other arm chairs once the former finished cooking. Bowls of hot chili had been doled out, and the room finally settled into a sleepy, content sort of calm. 

“Look, I’m not convinced that we didn’t steal this bedazzled skull because Hubert wanted it.” Caspar jabbed his spoon forcefully at the skull in question and at the gaunt man who was silently sipping a coffee. Hubert glowered at Caspar and Lindhardt wisely decided to move the skull further down the table, lest Caspar get sauce on what was sure to be an expensive (albeit kinda ugly) piece of art.

“And we are certain that the Gerths will move the painting from the auction house to their house?” Ferdinand had been skeptical of their plan since the beginning, and not just because he hadn’t been included in this first heist. To him, this plan was still centered on a lot of ifs, no matter how confident Byleth was.

“A rich family’s ego is a consistent and predictable thing,” Dorothea remarked with a knowing smile. “You of all people should understand this, Ferdie.”

“Their ego is exactly what we are preying on. The skull is the flashiest, most well-known piece that the auction house has. They were going to sell it at the auction next week. This will be all over the news. A renowned auction house has been broken into and their biggest piece of art has been stolen. For all the wealth and notoriety that the Gerths have, they have yet to have anything stolen from their estate. The painting has been safe at the estate for all these years. They will be confident that the security that their money can buy is better than the auction house.” Edelgard took a pensive sip of her tea. 

She could feel Byleth lean slightly into her as she balanced on the arm of the armchair. She took a deep breath, steadying herself. “We all agreed that trying to crack the second vault was not feasible in the given time frame.”

“Hey! I still think that we could have taken the entire vault.” Caspar grumbled. Linhardt patted his shoulder reassuringly. 

“Caspar, no offense, but that’s…” Edelgard paused, trying to search for the right word to describe Caspar’s idea. “...inelegant.”

“The plan to steal the painting from the Gerth estate still stands.” Hubert’s tone left little room for the others to squabble over a plan they had already agreed to.

Edelgard smiled in spite of herself. 

“Oh no, Edie.” Dorothea waved a finger at her from across the room. “I see your face. This isn’t just about the painting. It’s personal isn’t it?”

She quickly recomposed herself, she was getting ahead of things. There was still much to be done. “I just think that we have not made a grand gesture as of late and this is an excellent opportunity. Just leave a little reminder for the world that the Black Eagles are still here and nobody is safe.” Edelgard peered over her tea at Dorothea innocently.

“It is personal! Don’t play coy with me, Edie. Playing coy is my job.” Dorothea smirked, tossing her hair behind her and nearly hitting Petra in the face. “But fine, fine, keep your secrets, everyone is entitled to their secrets.”

Although Edelgard would never admit out loud that she wanted this painting for personal reasons and for personal reasons wanted to steal it from the Gerth estate and the Gerth estate alone, she hated that Dorothea could read her like an open book. 

“We all know there’s enough secrets in this room to make a sea-cret.” Byleth mumbled, more to herself than anything else as she stared ahead blankly.

Everyone turned to look at her, dumbfounded.

“Really? A pun? In this economy?” Caspar squinted at her in disbelief. 

“It’s more likely than you think.” Bernadetta whispered.

“No no no no no. We are not getting into this.” Edelgard threw up her free hand in a warning gesture. “I refuse to let this debriefing devolve into puns and memes. I want to go to bed. You can make all the jokes you want after we are done.” Sometimes she forgot that Bernadetta spent almost as much time on the internet as Hubert and Caspar did. Although, Hubert was less on the internet and more on the darknet, so maybe this comparison didn’t really apply to him.

“Okay, okay. So we will wait for the painting to be moved. By the time that the news of the theft hits the headlines tomorrow, I expect the painting to have moved. And so this-” Byleth gestured at the floorplan on the screen. “-is my finalized plan for the Gerth estate.”

“I’ve been monitoring the comings and goings of all the staff and security on the premises.” Hubert pressed a button on his phone. The screen switched over to a series of security camera feeds. People in various uniforms milled around the estate, carrying out duties. It was the middle of the night, but the estate was still fairly busy.

“I still can’t believe there’s two hedge mazes! Who needs two hedge mazes?” Caspar complained, folding his arms. 

“They should have no hedge mazes by now if you followed my instructions exactly,” Linhardt remarked with a yawn.

At that, Caspar had to grin, “It was a little bit creepy at first, but yeah, I followed your instructions to the T. Man you should’ve seen the swarm-”

“Caspar please, we really do not want the details.”

* * *

The Gerth estate was every bit as pompous and pretentious as they all thought it would be. 

Stone statues dotted the landscape. A giant stone fountain, surrounded by smaller fountains. Flower beds filled with colourful exotic flowers. In the distance, where there once stood lush green hedges, now stood barren branches, like twisted skeletal hands reaching to the sky.

Caspar whistled as he took in the sight. “Damn, those beetles work fast.” He hopped out the back of the large van. “Hugs Not Bugs” was plastered in a green loopy font along the side of the van. Beneath it was a cartoon cockroach, running away from a puff of smoke. Bernadetta had designed it and had it made into magnets within an hour. A similarly decorated SUV pulled up next to the large van. 

Dorothea got out of the SUV, looking remarkably fashionable for someone wearing a dark green coverall with the same ugly logo on the back. Ferdinand and Petra both followed, dressed similarly. 

“I told you, I know what I am doing,” Linhardt yawned as lazily clambered out the back of the van. 

While they had been planning the auction house heist, Byleth had Linhardt and Caspar work on getting them a way into the Gerth estate. It seemed like an outlandish idea at first, Edelgard would admit, but Byleth’s observations were sound. When they went over the security feeds, they noticed that the Gerths seemed to spend an inordinate amount of money and effort on maintaining their two hedge mazes.

That was their way in. So while the others scoped out the auction house, Linhardt and Caspar were busy bombing the hedge mazes with what Linhardt called beetle bags. Or well, Linhardt worked out the mixture that went into each bag. Caspar was the one busy scattering these little beetle bags over the hedge mazes using a small drone and the cover of night. Each bag was about the size of a quarter and designed to attract insects. The Gerth estate bordered a vast forest, and Linhardt wanted to pull those insects out of the forest and redirect them to the hedge mazes. The bags also dissolved into the ground with the addition of water- courtesy of the sprinklers that switched on every morning. Nobody would ever figure out why these insects were suddenly showing up en masse. 

In addition to the beetle bags, Linhardt managed to get his hands on several large tanks of Adrestrian emerald beetles. Nobody knew where he got them from, but honestly nobody wanted to know. He had just disappeared one afternoon and returned with them in the back of a car.

The Adrestrian emerald beetles were voracious feeders. They already existed in the forest near the Gerth estate but Linhardt had wanted to bolster their numbers a little bit. Of course, Caspar had to wait in the forest for several nights with the tanks of beetles, waiting for the winds to blow the right way so the additional beetles wouldn’t go to waste. But they had their desired effect and within a few days, the hedge mazes had both been stripped clean of their foliage. 

Now the beetles had begun to spread over the rest of the estate, in search of more food. 

The Black Eagles watched through the security feeds as the staff at the estate was whipped up into a frenzy trying to get rid of the beetles. Several different extermination companies were called to get rid of Caspar and Linhardt’s handiwork. But it was difficult to try to exterminate the insects when you had the entire forest to call reinforcements from. They only had to rescatter a fresh layer of the beetle bags, and the insects just kept on marching.

A tall, thin man in a slightly rumpled suit hurried down the front steps towards them. He was sweating profusely as he rushed across the front courtyard. “Thank goodness you’re here. It’s a disaster! A true catastrophe! Mrs. Gerth is going to have my head!” 

It took Hubert very little time to create a fake extermination business, specializing in the removal of beetles and pests from shrubbery. A few fake ads and one well designed website later, the Gerth household came calling. “Hook, line, and sinker.” Byleth had said.

Edelgard nodded at Linhardt and Dorothea, who moved around the vehicles to intercept the man. Dorothea would be their point of contact with the Gerths and their staff. Linhardt was their eccentric pest-control genius. Anything that Dorothea couldn’t talk her way through could be muddled through with Linhardt’s scientific babble.

The rest of them began donning protective suits, goggles, masks and gloves as Dorothea talked to the man. He appeared to be the head of the staff, the one who had contacted them a few days earlier. He was extremely nervous, dabbing at beads of sweat on his forehead with a handkerchief. 

“Well Reginald, we will definitely eradicate the pest problem that you have. We also have some protective equipment here for the family and the staff,” Dorothea gestured as Ferdinand and Byleth wheeled up two large bins of protective suits, gloves, goggles, and masks. The two of them were already suited up fully.

“Protective equipment?” Reginald looked confused. “Why do we need protective equipment?”

“The substances that are used to eradicate the insects can have unwelcome side effects if there is prolonged exposure,” Linhardt examined the man with a careful eye. “Say, have you been feeling warm, sweating more than usual, and have an increased heart rate?” 

Reginald glanced down at his smartwatch nervously, “Uh maybe? I don’t know? Is this relevant?”

“You said over the phone that you had hired other exterminators? By the look on your face, they didn’t provide you with any protective equipment.” Linhardt shook his head, looking like he was reprimanding a misbehaving child. He sniffed the air, “I think you may have been exposed too long to the fumes. This could have lasting damages, increased chances of a heart attack, stroke- especially if you have pre-existing conditions like being a smoker.” 

He paled, “The other exterminators never said anything!”

“You should have called us first,” Dorothea patted him on the shoulder sympathetically. She handed him a set of protective equipment. “I advise you to take it easy for at least a few days. Get some rest, we don’t want you exacerbating the symptoms.”

She sent the man away with strict instructions to have the rest of the family, staff, and security put on the protective equipment. With the staff and security in matching protective equipment that obscured most identifying features, it would be much easier to move around the estate unnoticed.

“Let’s head out,” Byleth’s gloved hand on Edelgard’s forearm pulled her away from helping Bernadetta and Petra finish suiting up. You could barely see Byleth’s wild teal hair, pulled back into the hood of the suit. The only noticeable feature were those bright blue eyes, peering at her through the safety goggles.

 _“Coms are live.”_ Hubert was camped out inside their exterminator van with his equipment. He could monitor the estate through the various security feeds from there and issue directions as needed while being on hand in case anything came up.

Byleth had a tablet in her other hand, and they made their way around the perimeter of the estate, carefully mapping out the grounds. It took the better part of the afternoon as they thoroughly looked over the area. They had a pretty good idea of what they were walking into through the security cameras, but it never hurt to be sure. They worked in companionable silence, Edelgard appreciated the razor sharp focus that Byleth had when they were working. She never had to worry about remembering to keep a conversation while they worked.

“And we still have beetles in the north east section of the garden,” Byleth remarked out loud after a while, eyeing the group of staff who were headed towards them.

“I’m worried they’ll reach the actual building,” Edelgard nodded as a group of staff from the estate hurried by them, clutching protective equipment in their hands.

They finished their preliminary sweep and were in the middle of doing a sweep around the exterior of the building, near a set of large windows when they were stopped by a booming voice. “Why are you over here? The bugs are over by the hedge mazes! I paid for you to get rid of them, not look around my home!” 

Edelgard turned to see a large man totter down the few stone steps that lead from a stone patio to the garden pathway that they were on. The head of the Gerth household, Lionel Gerth. He was wrapped in a fine robe, and the afternoon sunlight glinted off of the many rings he wore on his fingers. The way that his fingers bulged around the rings made her wonder if he could ever even remove the rings. They reminded her of turtles that got trapped in the plastic six-pack rings.

She took a deep breath and steeled herself to face him. 

“I’m sorry sir, but we were concerned that the beetles had reached the building. We were checking to see how far they had progressed. Also please put on the protective gear, sir. We do not want you falling ill to the pesticides we are using.” Edelgard responded in her most polite, customer service tone that she had. 

He seemed perturbed at the idea that the beetles would reach his mansion. “Don’t tell me what to do! I’ll wear a suit when I want to. Just hurry up and get rid of them! They’re not just going to disappear by themselves! Wasting my money standing around.” He harrumphed, watching them with a mix of disdain and scorn. They retreated around the corner of the house, acutely aware that he was watching them.

_“And here I thought that he could not be any more of a jerk than he already seemed.”_

_“I am thinking that he could be of the use of more manners.”_

“Ferdinand, Petra, please. Let’s not waste our breath discussing him. Have we made any progress?” Edelgard sighed, even after one interaction with Lionel Gerth, she could feel a headache coming on.

 _“We snuck into the mansion with a few of the other staff. There doesn’t seem to be any surprises.”_ Through a window, Edelgard watched a taller and shorter figure dressed in protective equipment subtly lift a hand at her in acknowledgement. They disappeared out of her sight further into the mansion.

 _“Ferdinand, the door on your left. No, your other left. That’s the study. The painting should be in there.”_ Edelgard could almost see Hubert in the back of the van, scowling at his screens. 

_“Hubert? We are having a problem.”_

_“What is it? I cannot see what you are referring to.”_ Interestingly, the study was one of the few areas in the mansion without internal cameras. What little view they did have of the room was through a few outside cameras catching the edges of it.

_“There is a laser grid over the painting. We cannot move the painting without triggering some kind of an alarm.”_

_“No such an alarm exists in the security system. It must not be hooked up to the main system.”_

_“I am seeing a flaw in the positioning of the lasers. But I will be needing equipment for climbing.”_

“Can you two return to the van? We can discuss this further there,” though Edelgard couldn’t see Byleth’s facial expression due to the mask, she could tell that she was frowning, based on the slight furrow in her brow. She knew that Byleth’s mind was spinning at a thousand miles an hour, coming up with new plans already.

By the time that they got back to the van, both Petra and Ferdinand had returned. They had removed their masks and goggles and were deep in conversation with Hubert inside the closed doors of the van.

The others were busy putting up the air of extermination work being carried out, roping sections of the grounds off with stakes and yellow caution tape. Caspar had dressed up a few what were essentially souped-up smoke machines. He went about with one of them, spraying a bitter smoke into the air. 

Linhardt wisely decided to add something to the smoke that gave it the bitter taste and smell to encourage people to keep their protective suits on. The suits were less useful if people simply got tired of wearing them and started shedding them, and so far, it seemed to be working.

Edelgard and Byleth climbed into the air conditioned interior of the van. Immediately, Byleth pulled the hood away and discarded her goggles, gloves, and mask. Sweat ran down her face in rivulets and she leaned back into one of the seats. Edelgard followed suit and dug around in one of the coolers in the van for a few bottles of water. She handed one to Byleth who promptly downed the whole thing in one impressive go and accepted a second one.

“The lasers are having positions in front of the painting. But the lasers are not having positions above the painting. They are having the thought that you are having to lift forwards through the lasers to be having the painting.” Petra sketched a crude representation of the setup on Hubert’s tablet.

“So you want to just lift it straight up.” Byleth commented as she studied the sketch intently. 

“You’ll still have to lift it forwards a little bit so that it won’t catch on what it's hanging on. From what we could tell, it was just a long piece of wire across the back and a screw in the wall.” Ferdinand replied.

“And we still have a replacement that will have to go in the same way.” Edelgard added, jerking her thumb at the large rectangular object in the van behind them. Bernadetta had whipped up a painting to replace the one they were taking.

“We don’t have to leave the replacement.” Hubert pointed out.

“But we should,” Ferdinand responded indignantly, “especially if we can, if for nothing else but to show that we can.”

“But even with climbing equipment, how would you get up there? What would you secure yourself to?” Hubert was staring intently, fingers steepled and brow furrowed.

Edelgard looked over the floorplan that was still up on one of Hubert’s screens. There wasn’t anything that would work particularly well in the study for this scenario.

“Wait. I have an idea.” Byleth jumped up from her seat. “We took the white SUV here, right? I don’t think I cleared out my stuff from the back yet.” She scrambled out of the van before any of them could respond. They heard car doors opening and closing. She was gone for less than ten seconds before she returned with two fishing rods.

“Let’s go fishing!”

* * *

They waited until the middle of the night to make their move. Under the guise of monitoring the estate overnight and to target “nighttime beetle mating activity”, they wandered around the estate in their protective suits, spraying bitter smoke everywhere they went. 

_“We are at the north air intake.”_

“We are also in position. Any time now,” Edelgard looked around again, double checking to make sure that the coast was clear. The mansion had long ago fallen dark. She was positioned near a side entrance with Byleth, Petra, and Ferdinand. The latter two were still spraying a thick cloud of smoke everywhere, obscuring the view of the security cameras in this area. Usually, Hubert would loop the security cameras to prevent them from being seen, but the guards on patrol here coordinated with the guard who was monitoring the security feeds- ensuring that the cameras were actually live. 

As the afternoon had worn on, they had slowly begun moving their exterminating work closer and closer to the building, repeatedly obscuring different cameras, until nobody questioned their presence.

Byleth carried two telescoping fishing rods and some flashlights in a small rucksack that she slung over one shoulder. Her plan was ridiculous, Edelgard admitted, but they didn’t have much else. 

_“The sleeping gas should have taken effect. Petra can you double check?”_

Edelgard nodded to Petra, who handed her smoke machine to Byleth and proceeded to scale the building in her suit with ease. _“They are having unconsciousness.”_ She dropped back down to the ground silently.

Linhardt swapped out the bitter gas in two of the machines for a mild sleeping gas. It was harmless, and nobody would be worse for wear. The staff might actually wake up feeling refreshed. With new respirators that would filter out the sleeping gas, they could work on stealing the painting unhindered. Unfortunately, there was no way to dose the security guards who patrolled outside of the building at the same time. Trying to eliminate each guard without setting off any alarms would also spread their group too thin across the estate. 

It was best to just remove the painting while the household was unconscious and not set off any alarms. They could just drive away like they finished their job afterwards without any suspicion. 

Edelgard quietly opened the door as Byleth switched Petra’s smoke machine off. She peeked into the hallway. Empty. She gave Byleth and Petra the thumbs up and off they went. Third door on the right. Hubert nudged the cameras in the hallway upwards a little bit, enlarging the blind spot along the right side of the hallway enabling them to sneak by unnoticed.

Ferdinand kept watch outside, still laying down a dense layer of smoke to cover their movements from the outside.

There was nobody in the study, like when Ferdinand and Petra had found it earlier in the day. It was fairly dark, the only source of light was the moonlight streaming in in ripples through the smoke.

Edelgard hurried to the windows and quietly opened one of them. Caspar’s hooded head popped up through the cloud of smoke a second later. He was waiting outside the window with a handcart and a large, bulky smoke machine that was billowing copious amounts of smoke. It was two of the handheld ones that they had been carrying around all day, Caspar just enclosed them in a large outer case so that you had to wheel it around. In reality, it was built so that they could move the paintings across the estate without being noticed. 

Now, he slid their dummy painting from its hiding spot in the back of their device and handed it to Edelgard through the open window. Once he handed her the painting, he returned to busying himself with their smoke machine on wheels, looking every bit like he was supposed to be there.

By the time that Edelgard had the window closed and turned back around with their dummy painting in hand, Petra and Byleth were already lowering the fishing lines into place. The very tip of the fishing rods were pressed up against the wall above the painting- the two of them were standing on top of chairs so that they had the right height and wouldn’t brush up against the lasers. “Do you want more light or is the moonlight sufficient?” Edelgard pulled out a few flashlights from the rucksack that Byleth had set down.

_“I’m okay.”_

_“Me too.”_

Edelgard nodded and skirted around them in a wide berth, careful not to disturb their concentration. Quietly, she covered the flashlight with one hand as she turned it on. It was necessary to see what was happening behind the painting but she didn’t want the beam of light to attract any of the guards. She shone the dimmed flashlight behind the painting, so the painting itself would block what little light the flashlight gave off as well. Focusing, she watched from the side. 

“To your left a little bit, Petra.” Edelgard directed, her entire body was tense in anticipation and worry. “A little bit more. A little bit more and good, you’re set. Byleth, you’re also set.” 

“Okay Petra, together now.” Byleth breathed. And she began to count gently under her breath. They had practiced a little bit back in the van, timing it so that the handle of the fishing reel would reach the top of the circle as Byleth counted. Painstakingly, they reeled the painting up, pausing every now and then as the painting began to lean. It also took them a minute to maneuver the base of the frame over the screw jutting out from the wall that the painting was hanging on. But a few minutes later, Edelgard had the painting in her arms. 

She stared at it for a long moment. Taking it in.

 _“Edelgard? You alright?”_ Byleth’s voice snapped her out of her brief reverie. 

“Yes. I’m fine. Just tense. Okay Caspar, take this back to the van. We will be out once we get this in place.” Edelgard hurried to open the window again, clutching the painting. Caspar popped up once again and gave her a thumbs up as he took the painting from her. Edelgard watched as he slid the painting into its hiding spot and wheeled it away. She closed and locked the window again. 

_“Okay, Edelgard. We are set. Spot us?”_ Byleth and Petra were ready, their dummy painting dangling from the end of their fishing lines. They carefully lifted it above the lasers, flush against the wall. Edelgard returned to her spot to the side. “Okay, you’re coming up upon the screw. Petra your side has to move towards you just a bit. Okay good! Now, Byleth, your side, towards you- and good. You can lower it now.” 

Edelgard could feel her heartbeat pounding in her ears. She hated that all she could do was watch and give the occasional direction. She knew that her role was still a necessary one but she hated this feeling. For a second, she let herself sneak a glance at Byleth. The other woman was the embodiment of calm. Her eyes were zeroed in on the task at hand, never wavering. Something in Edelgard’s stomach fluttered. She knew it wasn’t because of the heist. Maybe looking at Byleth was a bad idea. Instead, she took a deep breath, trying to draw on some of Byleth’s calm focus. 

_“Okay, replacement is in place.”_ Byleth and Petra carefully extricated their fishing lines from their dummy painting and stowed the fishing rods away.

Edelgard gave the new painting that was secured behind the lasers an approving look. Bernadetta had really outdone herself. 

_“Caspar and the target have both been secured.”_ Hubert reported. 

_“The exit route remains clear. I’m waiting by the door that you entered.”_

_“Dorothea and I are also returning to the vehicles. We’ll see you in a bit.”_

Petra cautiously opened the study door again, peering into the hallway. She gestured that the coast was clear and disappeared out of the room. Edelgard scooped up the rucksack and headed for the door. “Byleth?” The other woman was hovering over the desk in the study. Edelgard had paid it no mind when she entered. It was a mess of papers and half empty bottles of liquor.

 _“Coming.”_ Together, they quietly followed after Petra.

* * *

Caspar was waiting impatiently in the driver seat of the van when they reached the vehicles. Hubert had packed up his station and was currently sitting in the passenger seat, the van looked like a normal exterminator's van again. He was still watching the security feeds from his tablet though, scowling deeply.

“Everyone back?” Edelgard gasped as she clambered into the van, Byleth close behind her. The two of them peeled their protective gear off. Both of them were sweating profusely and had angry red rings on their faces from wearing the protective gear for so long.

_“We’re all accounted for.”_ Dorothea confirmed from the other vehicle. Ferdinand and Petra had split off into the SUV, joining Dorothea and Linhardt. 

Bernadetta sat by herself in the very back of the van and handed the two of them cold bottles of water. There were piles of equipment next to her and Caspar’s big smoke machine strapped down to the floor of the van.

“Okay, let’s get out of here.” Edelgard sighed as she sunk into the two-person seat that made up the middle row of the van, pressing the bottle of water against her temple. Byleth settled into the seat next to her. Their shoulders and knees bumped in the small space. They were both hot and sticky but Edelgard relished in the physical contact anyways. Those little points of contact blossomed into tiny ripples of electricity that danced across her nerves. Neither of them pulled away.

They left the Gerth estate with little trouble. Dorothea spoke briefly with the guards manning the front gate, flashing them her sweetest smile from the open window of the SUV. The Gerth estate was a little bit of a drive from Remire. After about twenty minutes of driving on the open highway, they pulled into the side of the road and stripped the vehicles bare of all the “Hugs not Bugs” insignias and put new license plates on. 

They would split up and take different routes back to their Remire base, just in case. 

Edelgard was staring out the windshield, watching the highway zip past them when she felt her cell phone buzz. Who could be texting her? And at this hour? The Black Eagles were constantly going through burner phones so very few people had her current phone number, and even less would text her. She doubted it was one of their group. 

It was from an unknown number. Her stomach dropped as she opened the text.

_“Hey princess. Somebody’s been asking a lot of people a lot of questions about you and your friends. Tomorrow. 2pm. Oghma Park. I don’t want anyone to get hurt. I hear the fishing there is quite good at this time of year. -C”_

The text was direct and left no room for negotiations. It left Edelgard with more questions than answers. It also left her a bad feeling inside though. Why was fishing mentioned? Was it about Byleth? Who was asking questions about the Black Eagles? What did they want to know? All of these thoughts and more were racing through Edelgard’s mind as she tried to go through all the different possibilities.

“Edelgard? You alright?” 

Edelgard looked up, Byleth was looking at her, studying her facial expressions intently. She looked a little bit worn out herself, working in the summer heat in the protective gear really sapped all your strength, but her eyes were still bright and alert, concerned. Edelgard could feel a heat rising in her face, and she hoped that in the darkness of the van, Byleth wouldn’t be able to see anything.

“I’m fine, thank you for asking. Just tired.” 

“If you want, you can take a short nap on my shoulder. I’ll keep watch.” Byleth patted her own shoulder, beckoning for Edelgard to lay her head on it.

Edelgard only reddened further. “No no no, it’s okay really. I’ll be fine.” 

Thankfully, Byleth let the matter drop instead of insisting further. Edelgard could see the look in Hubert’s eyes as he glanced at them through the rearview mirror. Amusement. She glared at him through the mirror.

The text hadn’t asked her to go alone tomorrow but she didn’t want the whole group to go with her either. That would bring on too many questions that she didn’t have the strength to deal with. But having at least one person around might be a good idea. “Uhm, Byleth. Are you doing anything tomorrow?”

“...No?” 

“Do you want to go fishing? I heard there’s this one place that is pretty good for fishing this time of the year.”

Byleth beamed at her and Edelgard felt like the entire heist had been worth it, just for this one moment. That maybe this was a good idea. Ominous texts and all. “I’m sure it won’t beat today in terms of the weirdest thing that I’ve fished up, but I would love to go fishing with you tomorrow.”

Edelgard smiled.

Tomorrow, she would go fishing with Byleth. Tomorrow, she would figure out who was asking questions about her and the Black Eagles. Tomorrow, she would figure out what it was that they wanted. 

Tomorrow, the Gerths would wake up and find nothing amiss. Tomorrow, the Gerths and their staff might feel a little bit off because of all the smoke. Tomorrow, it would be business as usual, until Lionel returned to his study, sat at his desk, and gazed up at the painting locked behind lasers on the wall. Tomorrow, he would find that instead of the three red carnations in a vase, he’d find the silhouette of a large black eagle on a background of red and white. 

The Black Eagles had come calling.


	2. Edelgard

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Byleth and Edelgard have a lil talk. Edelgard makes a choice, Byleth makes some realizations.
> 
> or 
> 
> Edelgard and Byleth try their best.

Byleth liked the Black Eagles. They were a fun and interesting group. Diverse in nature and skills. She hadn’t felt this comfortable in a group since her younger years. She got along with everybody well- except maybe Hubert. But you could never tell with Hubert, Byleth tried to steer clear of Hubert. 

And while she had enjoyed the heist that had just completed, she found that she enjoyed their days off just as much. Don’t get her wrong, she liked the challenge of a heist, the thrill of it, but in a sense, she liked having the strange security of the group- that she could just have these days off without much worry. It became clear to her that the group did what they did because they could, because they wanted to. From her conversations with the others, money was not an issue- they would never be forced to complete heists or take jobs because of financial troubles. 

It was like she could complete a puzzle because she wanted to, not because her livelihood depended on it. She didn’t miss that part of her past life at all.

Byleth hummed softly as she cast her line back into the lake. Edelgard, true to her word, had brought Byleth out to Oghma park. The two of them sat at the edge of the dock, legs dangling in the water as they simply enjoyed the beautiful summer day. The park was bustling with activity and it had taken them a few moments to find a decently secluded spot to settle into but Byleth was pleased. 

She was out fishing. It was a pleasant day. Edelgard had asked her to go out with her to go fishing. It was turning out to be an excellent day off. 

“So, why don’t you want the rest of the Eagles to know that you’re the Ashen Demon?” Byleth’s head jerked up at the question. There was a hesitation in Edelgard’s voice that Byleth noted. Edelgard had tried her best to sound casual. 

Byleth thought about for a long moment. “That’s not who I am anymore,” she finally answered. Not everybody got the chance to walk away, to start over. What was the point of all that if she was going to just linger in the shadows of the ghosts of what she left behind?

Edelgard gave Byleth a wary glance. “You don’t just get to choose that.”

Byleth gave her an amused smile, “But, don’t I though?”

“You can’t just wake up one day, and just decide that you don’t want to be that person anymore.” Edelgard huffed, clearly displeased with Byleth’s casual attitude. That’s not how that works.”

“But isn’t that how that works? What else do you need? There aren’t any forms to fill out for this, Edelgard. You decide on it and then you do it. It’s important to act on your decision.” Byleth smiled. Something tugged at her line and she began reeling in her catch with practiced movements.

“I don’t know. It just isn’t that simple.” Edelgard tore her gaze away from Byleth’s, staring out at the water. For all her bravado and strength, Byleth forgot how small she really was. It was like the sheer authority and force that she radiated really amplified her presence.

“I know.” Byleth looked back out over the water as well. With a strong pull, she lifted her catch out of the water. It was a decently sized jackfish. She unhooked it from her line and tossed it into the bucket with the other fish that she had caught. She had already caught enough to feed everyone for dinner. Fish for dinner? That would be the perfect way to end today.

“It’s okay, if you don’t want to tell the Eagles. I wasn’t criticizing you or anything. You’re not the only one who’s left something like that behind.” Byleth turned to face Edelgard again, and caught her turning away from her to face the water again. There was something in that instant, the look Edelgard gave her. Just a flicker beneath the well controlled composure that Edelgard wore like her own skin. 

“But have you truly left those things behind?” Byleth didn’t look away. 

“What do you mean?” her response was sharp, immediate- the barbed wire at the top of an iron wall.

“I think that you _say_ that you have left those things behind. And maybe you have physically left those things behind. But I think you’re still right there in the thick of it, right here, and here.” Byleth gently tapped the center of Edelgard’s forehead with her index finger, and then again over her heart.

“Don’t pretend like you understand me,” Edelgard snapped, brushing Byleth’s finger aside. She froze, as if suddenly registering what she had done. She immediately sat up straighter, composure slamming back into place. “My apologies, I shouldn’t have yelled.”

“No, no. I was out of line.” Byleth tried to muster all the warmth and understanding into her facial expression as she could- she doesn’t think she’s very successful at it though. “If I may? Can I say one last thing?” 

Edelgard nodded stiffly, refusing to meet Byleth’s eyes.

“I think that the things that hold us back are things that we allow. We run away from them, thinking that they are in the past, that they are behind us, but really, they are in front of us, between where we are and where we want to be.” Byleth said. Edelgard’s eyes snapped upward toward her. Byleth could see her mind working. Her mouth opened and closed a few times like she was trying to say something but no words came out. Eventually, she just fell silent. 

It seemed that whatever pleasant mood they had from earlier had darkened. 

Byleth’s shoulders slumped slightly. She did not intend for things to turn out this way. She cast her line back out into the water. Perhaps she should change the subject?

“So why did you decide that the Black Eagles were what you wanted?” Edelgard beat her to the punch. Edelgard had asked her a similar question before, 

“You seemed like a bunch of good eggs.” Byleth commented casually. 

Edelgard smacked her lightly on the arm, indignant. “We are a bunch of criminals. I would hardly say we’re good people.”

“Okay. Firstly, those two things are not mutually exclusive. Secondly, I never said you were all good people. Just good eggs. There’s a difference.” The faint smile that it brought to Edelgard’s face was enough of a victory for Byleth. Maybe the day wasn’t completely lost.

“That doesn’t make any sense.” Edelgard crossed her arms, she eyed Byleth suspiciously, despite her smile.

“It’s alright. One of these days, you’ll see it too.” Byleth assured her. She would do her best to make sure of that. "I'm glad you asked me to go fishing with you and for talking to me today. I didn't expect you to be someone who enjoyed such activities. Everyone else gave off the impression that you didn't partake in these activities."

Whatever Edelgard was going to say next, it was cut off by the sound of someone clearing their throat behind her. They both turned to look up at the figure, who was dressed in a light hoodie with the hood pulled up and reflective sunglasses. He flashed them the peace sign and grinned. 

“Hello princess, I’m glad you’re making use of the fishing spot here. It comes highly recommended to me.” Byleth looked at the dark haired man and back down at Edelgard. It seemed they knew each other.

“Claude,” Edelgard greeted darkly.

Byleth immediately stiffened at her tone. Her right hand went for her pocket, Caspar had given her a tiny taser a while back. She liked to keep it on her at all times, for situations just like this. Edelgard’s hand calmly covered her hand, preventing her from making any rash decisions. “It’s alright. He’s more than a nuisance than a threat.” 

Byleth looked at Edelgard sheepishly, much like a child would when they were caught with their hand in the cookie jar. Edelgard gently guided Byleth’s hand back to her fishing rod. Byleth understood. _Everything is fine._

“Why must you wound me so?” Claude grabbed his chest dramatically as he took off his sunglasses.. He could really give Ferdinand a run for his money in the dramatic department, Byleth decided.

“We don’t have all day, Claude. You said you had information for me?”

Oh.

 _Oh._

The realization slammed into her like a tall ocean wave slamming against a cliff. Overwhelming. Shaking the very core of Byleth's good mood.

Byleth understood now. Edelgard had other plans.

She hadn’t just asked Byleth to go to the park to go fishing for her for the sake of fishing. It was just an excuse.

She had read too much into it.

Byleth felt foolish.

“You’re not going to introduce me to your friend first?” Claude was watching Byleth closely- a glint in his eyes that Byleth didn’t have the mental capacity to place right now. Her thoughts were a jumbled mess. After a brief moment, he plopped down next to Byleth dramatically, making a show of deciding that she was the safer choice to sit next to. Byleth wasn’t sure that was the right choice. 

She paused. Claude was sitting too close for comfort. She glared at Claude. He had trapped her in place. She couldn’t make a hasty escape. What was he playing at? 

“No.” Edelgard responded through gritted teeth. At least Edelgard hadn’t seemed to notice Byleth’s realization or Claude’s. 

Claude rolled his eyes, “I’m Claude. Your friendly neighbourhood information broker and fence.” He extended Byleth his hand to shake. Byleth shook his hand stiffly but said nothing else. Edelgard looked at her strangely.

If he was as good as he seemed, he’d know her name anyway. She didn’t need to say anything. Byleth wasn’t sure that she could trust her voice right now to not betray the thoughts swirling through her mind.

“Well, niceties aside. Someone has been asking a lot of questions about you.” Claude leaned back on his hands, basking in the afternoon sun like a cat.

“So you’ve mentioned.” 

“He’s been looking high and low for you and any acquaintances of yours. Fortunately, everyone that he’s talked to so far is smarter than he is and he doesn’t have anything yet. But he’s tenacious and _violent_. I wouldn’t put it past him to find you sooner rather than later.” Claude looked stern, all traces of his earlier sass gone.

“Has he hurt any of your people?” Edelgard’s concern was evident, clear on her face.

“Not yet. But he scared the hell out of Ignatz.” Ignatz. Byleth filed the name away for later. She’d ask the others about who Ignatz was.

Regardless of who Ignatz was, Byleth could recognize that this was a conversation that she had no part in. It felt like she was intruding. That she shouldn’t be hearing these things. She took a deep breath and steeled herself, preparing herself to get up. But as she even made the motion to do so, Edelgard’s hand placed itself on her knee, stopping her. 

What was Edelgard doing? It seemed that she wanted Byleth here. But for what? Edelgard gave her a tiny, almost imperceptible nod. She wanted Byleth to stay. 

Byleth relented. She returned her focus to her fishing, trying her best not to appear too interested in their conversation.

“It’s Kostas, isn’t it? He managed to escape our last encounter.”

“Yes.” Claude nodded and directed his gaze at Edelgard. “He seems to be your problem, so I’m giving you the chance to deal with it before it gets too out of hand.” 

There was a long silence. Byleth could sense that the other two were just staring at each other. She willed herself not to look at either of them. Especially not Edelgard.

“I know what to do.” Edelgard finally announced. “Claude, could you spread the news to Kostas that I’m looking for potential buyers for a few big pieces of art? I’ll send you the time and place once I have things sorted out.”

She was planning something, Byleth was certain of that much.

“That I can do.” Claude agreed easily. 

“Also, are you still in contact with Sylvain? Can you get him a message from me?” 

Sylvain. Another name that Byleth didn’t know. Another name for her list of questions.

Claude laughed, “I think you should ask Dorothea about that. She’ll have more luck with that, especially if you need him to do anything.”

Edelgard just groaned in response. 

“Well, I’ll leave you to it.” Claude got up and dusted himself off. He smiled down at them and donned his sunglasses again. “I hope I have better news for you next time we meet.”

Byleth watched him go. He disappeared into the crowd easily. “What are you planning, Edelgard?” she turned back to her companion. She kept her voice steady, gripping the handle of her fishing rod tightly, as if she could channel all her emotions into it instead. Edelgard looked conflicted, chewing on her lower lip, deep in thought. 

“Maybe it’s time I faced things head on. I need to think.”

* * *

Byleth could hear Dorothea through the closed door. The rest of their outing and trip home had fallen into a strange silence. Each caught up in their own thoughts. Edelgard seemed to be thinking deeply. And though Byleth was very tempted to ask her more questions and talk to her, she decided to keep her mouth shut- lest she seem foolish once again. Once Byleth and Edelgard had returned to the homebase, Edelgard made a beeline for Dorothea and shut herself and Dorothea in the library.

At first, all seemed well. Then Dorothea started yelling. Byleth couldn’t make out any words, but Dorothea didn’t seem pleased.

Byleth was debating whether she should ask one of the other Eagles who Ignatz and Sylvain were or if doing so without first asking Edelgard would be overstepping, when the library door swung open. Dorothea looked very unhappy, she was tapping away furiously at her phone. If she was a tall, gaunt man, Byleth could mistake her current airs for Hubert. She stalked off angrily to her room. Out of the corner of her eye, Byleth saw Petra almost materialize out of nowhere, looking concerned and followed Dorothea.

“Can I have you all in the common room please? We need to have a long overdue talk.” Edelgard strode to the front of the common room and clapped her hands to get everyone’s attention.

“I-I’m sorry! I promise I’ll try harder next time! Please don’t kill me!” Bernadetta squeaked. She disappeared under the large coffee table.

Edelgard sighed. “This is not about you Bernadetta. I am not going to kill you. We are thieves-”

“-not murderers,” Linhardt drawled. “We’ve all heard it. We all know.” He wandered over to an empty couch and unceremoniously flung himself down into it.

“Oh come on, Bernie. We all know Edelgard is all mean and scary on the outside but she’s just a big softie on the inside.” Caspar got down on his hands and knees, trying to coax Bernadetta back out. 

“She has Hubert! And he is at least four times scarier than her!” 

Hubert knelt on the other side of the table and peered at the girl hiding underneath it,“I am not four times scarier than Edelgard. I am at least eight times scarier.”

Bernadetta shrieked. She scrambled to get away from Hubert, nearly bowling Caspar over in her haste to escape.

“Hubert!” Ferdinand sat down in an armchair behind Hubert, looking down at him disapprovingly. “Your humour leaves much to be desired.”

Hubert quirked an eyebrow up slightly, “I highly doubt that your humour is much better.” He stood up and dusted himself off. 

“Enough. Let’s just focus for a moment.” Edelgard silenced them. “Where is Petra?” She looked around, as if expecting Petra to pop up beside her all of a sudden.

Byleth raised her hand, she said softly, “I saw Petra follow Dorothea to her room.”

The look in Edelgard’s eyes softened a little bit. Byleth frowned, not sure if she could trust what she was reading from Edelgard's facial expressions anymore. “That’s okay then. I can fill her in later.” Edelgard set her jaw, “We need to talk about Kostas.”

“I have been saying this since the Remire Museum heist,” Ferdinand declared exasperatedly. Hubert kicked his armchair in warning.

“Who is Kostas?” Caspar piped up. He settled down on the couch next to Linhardt. Linhardt automatically shifted so his legs were sprawled over Caspar’s lap.

“He is a former… hireling.” Edelgard looked pained to admit it. “This was before the Eagles. I couldn’t do everything myself, even with Hubert. So I hired Kostas and his goons as muscle for a heist.” Hubert remained silent from his armchair. “Kostas nearly cost us the job. We finished it without him. He still thinks that he is owed more than we gave him and he’s been an annoyance since.” 

“An annoyance? He tried to kill you!” Caspar looked at Edelgard in disbelief like he couldn’t understand how an attempt on her life could be considered an annoyance like one would consider a mosquito.

“W-we’re not going to kill him are we?” Bernadetta spoke up, she had positioned herself on the far side of the room, putting both couches between herself and Hubert. 

“She literally just gave her ‘we’re thieves, not murderers’ speech like five minutes ago.” Though Linhardt’s eyes were closed, Byleth knew that he was paying close attention to the conversation.

“I did as you asked, Edie. Your guy is a wanted fugitive for a multitude of things. Sylvain has also agreed to go along with your plan. He’s more than happy to come along and take credit for our work. He thinks that a big collar like this will put him back in Ingrid’s good graces.” Dorothea reappeared, Petra trailing after her slowly. Petra looked slightly uncomfortable. Her phone was still in her hand. “You owe me. Big time. I feel like I need to take a long bath after that.” 

“We’re getting Sylvain involved?” Caspar trailed off. “Oh, are we just going to get Sylvain to arrest him?” 

Sylvain? Arrest? Byleth was confused. What strange company the Eagles kept.

“It’s a little bit more complicated than that unfortunately. I’m going to have to bait Kostas out. He’s laying low in Remire right now. And given how prone to violence he is, I can’t go to him. That’s a bloodbath waiting to happen. I can’t give him any time to prepare anything either. He has to come to me, on my terms.” Edelgard looked at everyone grimly. 

Dorothea strode forward, looking even more displeased than before. “You keep saying ‘I’, you can’t possibly think that you’re going to do this alone?” She planted herself squarely in front of Edelgard, hands on her hips. 

“I can not allow you to join me in such a dangerous endeavour,” Edelgard rebutted. She was hesitant. 

“Then why hold this meeting at all if you aren’t going to let us help?” Ferdinand spoke up, his tone accusatory. He looked gravely serious, he was sitting ramrod straight in his chair, entire body tense. Hubert’s hand immediately clapped down on Ferdinand’s shoulder. His expression was dark, dangerous. 

Edelgard faltered. She looked lost for a moment. Unsure. For a second, Byleth saw the Edelgard that hid behind those tall walls. Defenses a mile thick. All to hide something more fragile.

Byleth understood. She wanted their help but she didn’t know now to ask, or even if she was allowed to ask. She was trying. Trying to move forwards. But sometimes trying was a terrifying thing. Edelgard’s eyes flicked to hers. Byleth took a deep breath and pushed the swirling mixture of foreign feelings and maddening thoughts back down. Edelgard needed her help. Byleth got up from her spot on the floor where she had been nursing a cup of tea. Byleth understood. She would help.

“It’s okay, Edelgard. I think I can speak for all of us when I say that we want to help you. I think we understand this will be dangerous, myself especially.” Byleth gestured to her left bicep, at her momento from her last encounter with Kostas. “And I know you’d be worried if we got hurt over this. Over your personal matters. But I think we’d feel worse if you went off by yourself and got hurt and we just sat here and did nothing.” Byleth approached her slowly, like one would do when approaching a wounded animal. Carefully, she stepped in front of Dorothea. 

Slowly, so that Edelgard had ample opportunity to pull away if she so chose, Byleth reached out and took her hands. She was fidgeting again, rubbing her hands over each other. Byleth knew that her own hands were trembling- like she had pushed that strange tidal wave of feelings and realizations into her finger tips and now they threatened explode out of her very being. She fought on, both of them choosing not to mention how much the other was shaking. Byleth gently cupped Edelgard's hands in her own. “Nothing is stopping you from letting us help but yourself. It doesn’t have to be this way. You can just choose to let us help.”

Edelgard exhaled shakily. She inhaled as if she could fill her lungs with more than just air, with strength. “Okay.”

They both missed the looks that the rest of the Eagles were giving each other, clearly understanding that something else had happened while the two of them had been out fishing.

Edelgard dropped her hands from Byleth’s but not before giving them a quick squeeze. Immediately, Byleth mourned the loss of warmth and contact. Her hands still felt warm in some spots, like fire blooming under her skin pushing the tidal wave back.

“You are all willing to help me with this?” She stepped out from around Byleth and addressed the group. 

Byleth turned as well, looking at everyone. She nodded at them from behind Edelgard, making the motion with her hands that they should respond verbally. Edelgard wanted that explicit confirmation, no questions about it.

A chorus of yesses and enthusiastic affirmations followed. 

Edelgard’s look of incredulousness was worth the very confusing day that Byleth had. In some ways Byleth felt like this day was a victory, a very good step forward but in others, in one very specific way, she felt like she had lost something. She stared at her hands, unsure what was happening to her. This was a new occurrence. Feelings had never been her strong suit but this was something entirely new.

She snapped back to attention just as Edelgard was giving directions.

“Okay. Hubert, I’m going to need a secluded location to lay our bait for Kostas. We’re going to fake the sale of some important art. He’ll show up because he’ll think there will be a lot of money present that he can just walk away with.” Hubert nodded and got up from his armchair. His phone was already in his hand and he was immersed in his task. Without looking up, he walked to his room, impressively not banging his knee on any of the furniture in the way.

“I’ll play the seller of course. He isn’t going to show himself if I’m not there. But as for the buyer…” Edelgard cast her eyes over the group, thinking hard. “I’m not sure how well he knows all of our faces aside from mine but I don’t want to involve anyone else outside the group with this issue either. I’m fairly certain though, he wouldn’t have gotten a good look at Byleth before you tasered him last time.” Edelgard turned to study Byleth, measuring her up.

Byleth was also confident that Kostas would have a hard time remembering her in that sudden moment, plus you had to factor in the fifty-thousand volts of electricity. Besides, if Edelgard hadn’t picked her to be the buyer, she would’ve insisted on the role anyway. There was no way that she wasn’t going to be in the room for when this happened. Edelgard nearly got shot last time, there was no telling what could happen this time if Byleth wasn’t there to intervene.

“Dorothea and Ferdinand? Could you get Byleth something to wear for this? Something that will make her a little less recognizable? Just in case?” 

Dorothea beamed and placed her hands on Byleth’s shoulders. “I thought you would never ask. Come along Ferdie, this is going to be fun!” Despite Ferdinand’s earlier seriousness, he was all smiles as Dorothea beckoned for him to join them. “I have a few good ideas that you’ll also find quite practical for other uses,” she all but purred in Byleth’s ear and gave her an exaggerated wink.

Byleth swallowed. She didn’t like the sound of that. She wondered briefly if Dorothea could tell her what was happening. But then that would mean explaining everything to Dorothea and Edelgard was a really private person and that felt like she would be overstepping her boundaries and maybe even breaking Edelgard's trust and given how things were going right now, Byleth wasn't sure that she could deal with that... Byleth cut thoughts off before they could go any further and decided it was safer to not say anything to Dorothea.

Edelgard didn’t seem to notice Dorothea’s actions or Byleth's miniature crisis and continued on with her plan, “Caspar, I’m going to need you to make a trap. I don’t care how you do it but as soon as someone unzips a duffel bag, I want the duffel bag to go off in their face.” 

Caspar looked giddy at the prospect of designing something like that. He paused, thinking. “But what if you have to open the bag?” 

“Could you install some kind of failsafe? So that we could open the bag safely?” Edelgard frowned at him. 

Caspar had a good point, for all his brashness and recklessness, sometimes Caspar made really good points.

“Hmm… Probably. I could also set it so that it's remotely activated in case you want it to go off after the failsafe has been triggered. Ooh I can make a second one hidden in like a statue! We’re pretending to sell art right? So if you have to take the statue out and hand it over we can remotely activate that to go off too.” Caspar was animatedly talking now, drawing up imaginary schematics in the air with his hands. “Bernie, can you make me a statue to house something like that?!”

“Now you’ve got him all riled up over this, I’m never going to hear the end of it.”Linhardt grumbled as Caspar leapt out of his seat, knocking Linhardt off the couch. He was all energy and excitement, grabbing Bernadetta by the shoulders and marched them down the stairs to his workshop in the garage. The entire time, he was chattering excitedly about new equipment and different designs that he could use for this.

“Linhardt? Could you set up Petra with some kind of tranquilizer darts? Something strong and fast-acting preferably. I think we have a couple tranquilizer guns left in the garage.” Petra seemed genuinely intrigued by the prospect while Linhardt sleepily got to his feet.

“Okay, okay.” He sighed and waved a hand at Petra, indicating that she ought to follow him.

“It’s okay,” Edelgard let out a long breath as the group dispersed to their tasks. She stared long and hard across the now empty common room and out the windows. “We’ll be okay.”

Byleth let herself be ushered away by Dorothea and Ferdinand. She cast one last glance over her shoulder. The alien feeling in her chest wouldn't go away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A shorter chapter this time. It just felt right to break the chapter there rather than try to keep going. But we begin to see some of the others beyond the Black Eagles and a little bit into Byleth's head! 
> 
> i really like writing from Byleth's perspective but we'll see how things go.
> 
> Thank you for reading :)


	3. Sylvain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Black Eagles deal with Kostas with a little bit of help from Sylvain. They see a side to Sylvain that they usually aren't privy to.
> 
> Some unexpected guests show up.
> 
> Or.
> 
> Caspar is the MVP.

_ “Lone Wolf to Big Bird, I’m in place.”  _

Edelgard sighed, she couldn’t wait for this whole ordeal to be over. She forgot how much Sylvain tended to grate on her nerves. “Sylvain. We don’t use codenames here. And I can see you. You don’t have to tell me that you’re in place.” Edelgard stood in the middle of an old warehouse. A briefcase sat on the ground next to her. She hoped that she wouldn’t regret lending Sylvain one of their coms. Hubert looked disgusted when he fitted the other man with a com, like Sylvain had personally offended him when he put a com in his ear.

Edelgard had little tolerance for the man’s flirtations and other antics. But unfortunately he was a necessary presence. Edelgard knew that the man hated the bureaucracy that beleaguered many of his colleagues in law enforcement. Sylvain wasn’t afraid to brush off a little bit of bureaucracy for the sake of greater good. They needed this handled quickly and quietly, and Sylvain was eager to help out on their timeline, flying in from wherever he had been philandering the same day that Dorothea had contacted him.

Perhaps he wasn’t all bad, given how readily he was to help them despite their differences in background. He even came alone so that they wouldn’t be worried about him potentially turning on them after everything was said and done- not that they hadn’t already accounted for such a scenario, still the thought was nice. Maybe Edelgard had misjudged him. Maybe. She'd withhold further judgment for now. The man had a reputation- you didn't have a reputation for no reason. But she had never worked with him before. Maybe he was different when it came to his work, she could understand that. She hoped his carefree attitude didn’t carry into his work.

They had painstakingly looked over a dozen different locations before finally settling on this old warehouse. It had all the things that they were looking for. A series of metal catwalks lined the upper level. The center of the building had been cleared out, leaving a wide open space, making it very hard for any sort of surprises or ambushes to be effective. A few stacks of old crates and barrels dotted the outer edge of the inside of the warehouse. Edelgard would be concerned about those if they hadn’t secured this building well in advance.The building itself was in a more deserted area of Remire, that would reduce the amount of collateral damage.

Before her, Byleth stood impassively. She was dressed in motorcycle leathers that hugged her strong frame closely and a matching black motorcycle helmet. She, like Edelgard, had a bulletproof vest on underneath the jacket. That didn’t seem to detract any from how good she looked in her current outfit though. Currently, the visor was up and she had those striking blue eyes trained on Edelgard. A black duffel back dangled from her right hand.

“Fancy meeting you here,” Byleth said. Her voice came out a little bit muffled through her helmet and the coms. Edelgard could tell that Byleth was grinning from behind the helmet, her eyes twinkled in mirth. 

Edelgard flushed. Embarrassed, she readjusted the bulletproof vest she was wearing underneath her jacket. Was the warehouse getting warmer? She didn’t expect Dorothea and Ferdinand to dress Byleth like this, although she suspected it had more to do with Dorothea than Ferdinand. Byleth looked very good in leather. The way that the outfit hugged her body was- no, she had to focus. She could entertain other thoughts later- after Kostas had been dealt with.  _   
_

_ “Black mini coupe headed our way. Excessive speeding. We’re on.”  _ Hubert had set up small cameras throughout the warehouse and tapped into the few traffic cameras that dotted the area. He put up a few extra cameras around the block as well. He was very concerned about being able to see anybody approaching from any direction. It was looking like his efforts were paying off. The cameras also enabled him to remotely activate Caspar’s devices if the need arose.

They purposely instructed Claude to tip Kostas off about the location and time a little bit late. They had no idea where Kostas was hiding so they didn’t want him to show up too quickly but they wanted Kostas to rush in with as little preparation as possible- and the very real threat of missing the deal. 

_ “Uh guys? There’s definitely more than one Kostas squeezed into that car.”  _ Caspar sounded concerned, Edelgard could hear it in the slight shake in his voice.

_ “3 people in the car, Kostas included.”  _ At least she could count on Linhardt to provide concrete information. 

Their report meant Kostas just passed their fake construction blockade they put up. Linhardt and Bernadetta stood behind the wall of orange construction barriers with a bunch of surveying equipment. Beside them Caspar happily drove a front loader up and down the street, moving a pile of construction equipment around in the bucket. 

They parked a few pickup trucks behind the construction barriers as well, just to discourage Kostas from crashing his way through. They didn’t expect him to do so, but they wanted to be safe regardless.

There were only two streets that lead to the warehouse. One that looped around to the back of the warehouse and one through to the front. They were purposefully herding Kostas to the front of the warehouse. Kostas showing up with help was unfortunate but not unexpected. It was one of the scenarios they had prepared for.

“Okay, let’s move into the next phase of the plan.” Edelgard nodded at Byleth, who returned the nod and lowered her helmet visor. Byleth knelt down beside her duffel bag positioned it in front of her, making it look like she had just finished examining its contents and was getting ready to leave. Meanwhile, Edelgard picked up the briefcase.

The sound of a car pulling up with a screeching halt seemed to echo through the empty warehouse. Edelgard left the rusted metal front doors ajar on purpose. The windows had long been boarded up and some of them even reinforced by the Eagles. The back door they left locked and barred. If anyone wanted to enter through the back door, they’d be stalled in front of it for at least a few minutes, trying to get in.

Which was a perfect situation for Petra to pick them off.

Petra was along the upper catwalks. She placed herself strategically in one of the corners of the warehouse. Her vantage point gave her clear lines of fire at the backdoor and along the entire left side of the building. The various railings of the catwalks provided enough cover for her to hide behind as well. Linhardt created a special concoction for the occasion. Everything that Edelgard had requested. An extra strength sedative, fast acting and perfect for tranquilizer darts.

_ “I have a clear view of them on the cameras. They’re out front. I think one of them is stuck in the backseat. He’s having trouble getting out. Kostas is getting impatient. They’re leaving him behind. I think he’s going to try to catch up once he gets himself free.”  _

Edelgard rolled her eyes, she couldn’t believe that she had thought that Kostas and his goons would actually be useful for anything other than entertainment. 

_ “I am having sight of one. I am thinking they have split up.” _ Petra’s voice was barely audible over the coms. 

An unsurprising decision by Kostas. Heavy footfalls against the concrete. And then the harsh sound of the metal door slamming open.

“Alright, this is a hold up! Don’t move! Hands in the air! Hand over your money and the art and I’ll only shoot one of you!” Kostas burst into the building. He looked rattier than the last time that Edelgard had seen him, which was a feat in and of itself. He had his gun pointed at them, a wild look in his eyes. He laughed maniacally to himself. He walked forwards, boots thumping loudly against the floor. 

Byleth slowly rotated on one knee from her spot on the ground, she had her hands open and up. Similarly, Edelgard held her hands open, facing out in front of her chest, briefcase dangling from her thumb.

He was about ten feet away when he stopped, his gaze flicked back and forth between Byleth and Edelgard, sizing them up. “So we meet again. You may have gotten lucky last time, but this time, nobody is going to save you!” 

From the corner of her eye, she could see Sylvain slowly edging out of the hiding place. He had slid a full-face gas mask over his face, in preparation for whatever Caspar had cooked up. 

They had Kostas trapped. But they needed to get his gun away from him. After all, a cornered animal was the most dangerous animal.

“Alright, hand over the goods.” Kostas made a grabbing motion with his free hand at Byleth, indicating that she should give him the duffel bag. Byleth made motion to get up and step forward with the bag but Kostas levelled the gun at her, making her pause. “Don’t even think about approaching me. Just slide the bag over here. Gently! Don’t want to damage the goods now.”

Byleth did as she was told and it was an awkward moment as the duffel bag slid a few feet forward with the force of Byleth’s shove and then ground to a halt on the concrete floor of the warehouse. They all looked at the duffel bag, still too close to Byleth and not nearly close enough to Kostas.

“I changed my mind,” Kostas gestured at Edelgard, indicating that she should walk forward. She did, eyes still trained on the gun in his hand. He raised his hand to indicate that she should stop when she was about the distance as Byleth was from him. “Slide the briefcase forwards.”

Edelgard gave him an exasperated look and did as she was told. Predictably, the briefcase did not get that far either. She could see Sylvain giving her an incredulous look in the background as well.

“Okay, now step back five steps.” 

Was he serious? Five steps? That could be any distance. She looked at Byleth, who shrugged almost imperceptibly, and they stepped back a good amount. If he was going to open the bag or briefcase- both of which Caspar had kindly rigged up with his devices, they wouldn’t want to be close to him anyway.

Still, with the gun trained on them, he knelt down to open the duffel bag first. He looked mildly confused as he opened the bag, seeing its contents for the first time. He didn’t get much of a chance to think about it though as the bag seemingly projectile vomited a cloud of white smoke and glitter. Immediately, he began screaming in pain and coughing. Whatever substance beyond the glitter and smoke Caspar had loaded into the device had done the trick.

Edelgard felt Byleth slam into her side, bringing both of them to the ground just as Kostas began firing blindly. In their direction.

“You tricked me!” He howled. 

Edelgard couldn’t see him through the smoke that was beginning to waft over to them. Even from this distance, her eyes were beginning to water, she couldn’t imagine what the concentrated burst of Caspar’s doing did to Kostas.

_ “The third man has freed himself from the car.”  _ Hubert warned.  _ “He’s approaching the front doors.” _

_ “I am having shot my target. He is down. I am trying to get a shot on Kostas.” _

At least they didn’t have that to worry about. It would be hard for Petra to see through the smoke though, even though it provided cover against Kostas. A double-edged sword but one that Edelgard was very thankful for.

“Stay down!” she heard Byleth yell. She wasn’t sure if that was through the coms or not, her voice was muffled by the helmet again. Then Byleth was off again, rushing forward, into the thick of the smoke, still crouched low.

“What! Come back!” Edelgard yelled after her. But it was no use. Byleth had already vanished into the smoke. Edelgard coughed, and she dug into her inner jacket pocket for a mask that Linhardt provided. She had just gotten the mask secured, when the gunshots stopped. He had run out of bullets.

There were the sounds of a scuffle and then a cry of pain.

_ Sylvain. _

Hurriedly, Edelgard picked herself up off the ground and began to move forwards, torn between moving quickly or being more cautious. She had to go help. Another gunshot sent her diving back towards the floor. The last of Kostas’ goons had entered the fray. She could hear Kostas yelling, telling his underling off for nearly shooting him in the chaos.

Something hard slid into her arm. Leather. Rectangular. The forgotten briefcase. She could hear grunts of exertion and occasionally pain to her left. From the ground, she could see the front door. The smoke had begun to lift from the ground. She should get to the door to block off any escape. With that thought in mind, she moved in a wide circle away from the fighting, not only to reduce the stinging of the smoke and goddess knows what else Caspar mixed in there, but to prevent herself from getting mixed into the fighting by surprise. 

A large vehicle was approaching the building, Edelgard hoped it wasn’t more of Kostas’ goons. But she figured it wasn’t, Hubert would’ve said something over the coms by now if it was.

She reached the front door as someone burst past her, out into the open air, coughing violently. Another form rushed past her in a headlong tackle. She couldn’t quite make out who it was exactly but figured it was Byleth or Sylvain. A car door slammed outside and an engine started. More yelling and the horrific sound of metal screeching against metal. 

More footsteps lumbered toward the exit. Instinct told her this wasn’t one of her allies, the gait was too heavy, definitely not Byleth. Even in her brief encounter with Sylvain, she knew that Sylvain would never move like this.

Without any hesitation, she reached back with the briefcase in both hands and swung it as hard she could. There was the satisfying crack of something breaking and then a loud thump as a body hit the floor. The prone form lay there, still and unmoving, Edelgard could make out the little flecks of glitter that covered the man. _Kostas._ Edelgard decided it was safe enough to step out into the open air.

It took her eyes a minute to adjust to the sunlight and for her to move far away from the smoke streaming out the front door so that she could get a good look around. 

The sight that greeted her outside of the warehouse was not what she was expecting at all. Caspar had the car that Kostas arrived in pinned against a nearby wall with the front loader. The bucket fit snugly around the little car and the car was leaned against the wall, balanced on two wheels as the front loader had lifted it up.

He grinned brightly down at Edelgard from his seat, triumphant.

Byleth leaned against the same wall, head down. Her shoulders heaved with effort. She still had the helmet on but the helmet definitely looked like it took quite a few hits. Her hands scrabbled uselessly at the polished plastic of the helmet and at the buckle. Edelgard rushed to her side. “Byleth? Byleth are you okay?”

“I can’t. Off. Get it off!” Byleth’s voice came out muffled, and her hands were scratching at her throat, trying to find the buckle that held the helmet in place. Edelgard quickly brushed Byleth’s hands aside and deftly unbuckled the helmet. She moved to the side in time for Byleth to yank the helmet off and toss it haphazardly to the ground.

A plume of smoke trailed after the discarded helmet. Byleth looked wide-eyed, face covered in sweat and eyes much too red. How much smoke had gotten trapped up in that helmet? How could she stand to be in the helmet so long? She sank down to the ground, sitting there, just breathing deeply. Edelgard followed, brushing a few stray strands of hair out of Byleth’s eyes and a few stray pieces of glitter off of her arm.

“Lin, can you come here?” Edelgard’s question died in her throat with a cough. She ripped her own mask off of her face, the first breath of unrestricted air felt heavenly to her. Byleth patted her reassuringly on the back, supporting her weight.

Caspar was at their side immediately. “I’m sorry. I think I misjudged how strong the dispersal mechanism would be.” He brought with him a bottle of water and he pulled a packet of tissues from his pocket. Edelgard accepted both gratefully. 

“It’s okay, Caspar. I rather it be too strong than not strong enough. It would be much worse if we couldn’t get the jump on Kostas.” Edelgard lifted the bottle of water up to Byleth’s lips to drink. She started wiping away some of the sweat and grime on her own face as Byleth accepted the bottle gratefully.

"Why the glitter though?" Edelgard questioned as she dusted traces of the damnable substance off of her pants.

Caspar looked sheepish, "I thought that maybe if he managed to get the slip on us, he'd at least be trailing glitter for a while. That stuff is a pain! And...I thought it'd be fun." He looked down at Edelgard, anxiety clear in his eyes. Oh, he was seeking some kind of responsel from her.

"It's unorthodox," Edelgard finally settled for, "But very effective. I did tell you to do as you liked so this was very sufficient."

His expression brightened again.

Edelgard froze as Byleth took off her jacket, struggling with the sleeves for a moment, and began unfastening the bulletproof vest. Seconds later, both lay discarded on the ground next to her helmet, leaving her clad in a white tank top and tight leather pants. She let out a sigh of relief to be free of the vest. Edelgard suddenly found it very difficult to swallow. She couldn’t tell if this was an effect the smoke was having on her or if it was something else. Flushed, she kept her eyes focused on the ground before them, trying hard not to stare at Byleth’s form too much.

Nearby, Petra walked out of the mostly cleared out warehouse, supporting a limping Sylvain. He grinned as he saw them. “Looks like we did it!” He too had removed his mask, the cracked piece dangling limply from his free hand. A small trickle of blood ran down the side of his face.

Petra set him down next to them, he winced as he sat down. “You going to live?” Edelgard asked. For all her annoyance with him, she’d feel horrible if he was killed or seriously injured in helping her with this endeavour.

He smirked at her, all devious and sly. “I didn’t know you cared so much about me. Has my manly charms finally worked on you?” 

“I don’t want to have to clean up your dead body. Goddess knows how much work that would be.” Edelgard responded dryly. “I didn’t think you would get so involved in the fight.”

Sylvain pouted, “What do you mean? You asked me to come help, why wouldn’t I take part in the fight?”

“I don’t know. It just didn’t seem like it was your style.” Edelgard watched him warily.

“I get that a lot.” Sylvain said wistfully, “But you need more than some charm to make it in my line of work. I take every case and job very seriously.” He nodded with the most serious face that he could muster to emphasize his point.

Thankfully, any other interaction with Sylvain was cut short by the arrival of the rest of the Eagles. Linhardt and Bernadetta pulled up in one of the pickup trucks that they had reinforced their construction barricade with, followed shortly by Ferdinand in a bright blue SUV, and Dorothea in their familiar white SUV. The latter two were parked nearby, vehicles ready in case they needed a quick way out or had to chase down a fleeing vehicle. But it seemed Caspar beat them to the chase in this case.

Linhardt was at their side immediately. He checked over their vitals and patched up Sylvain as best he could with the small first aid kit in the truck. Aside from a small cut on his face and sprained ankle, he was fine. More bruised pride than anything else. Dorothea brought more water for them. As she handed Edelgard the bottle, she took one look at Edelgard’s flushed face and Byleth’s current state of dress and gave her a salacious wink-  _ checkmate. _

Edelgard scowled at Dorothea. She knew exactly what Dorothea was getting at or trying to get at anyway. She wasn’t going to give her the satisfaction of any other response.

With that, Dorothea took over taping up Sylvain’s sprained ankle so that Linhardt could check on Byleth. As Dorothea knelt on the ground so that she could more comfortably do her work, Sylvain opened his mouth to ask her a question and she immediately raised her hand to cut him off. “No, Sylvain. For the umpteenth time. I don’t want to go out with you,” She glared at Sylvain, her gaze holding no bite. Not the softness that Edelgard often recognized in relation to Petra but not her usual annoyance with his antics either. After so many encounters, Dorothea hated dealing with Sylvain, she found him to be a constant pest, but her current demeanour was bereft of any such feelings. His jaw snapped shut, the words dying in his throat. Sylvain grinned cheekily at her instead, all traces of his earlier seriousness gone again.

Byleth watched them curiously, head tilted to the side. She worried her lower lip between her teeth. 

“Don’t worry, he does this all the time. He just likes to ask every girl that he encounters out at least once. We’re largely used to it by now.” Edelgard reassured Byleth, “I’m surprised that he hasn’t asked you yet, honestly.”

“You don’t know if you never try! But, would you say yes if I asked?” Sylvain turned away from where Dorothea was wrapping his ankle with tape to look at Byleth.

Something in Edelgard flared up, all green and twisted. She put a hand on Byleth’s arm instinctively. “You don’t have to answer him, it only gets worse if you do.” She realized what she had done a moment after, the warmth of Byleth’s skin lighting a fire under her palm. If she pulled away now, it would be too obvious. Dorothea would never let her hear the end of it and she didn’t even want to think about Sylvain’s reaction.

Sylvain’s smile only grew larger, a knowing look in his eyes. From the corner of her eye, she could see Dorothea repressing a smile as well. Edelgard scowled and used this opportunity to remove her hand from Byleth’s arm to punch Sylvain lightly in the arm.

“Ow, ow. I’m injured here!” He grabbed his arm dramatically, laughing to himself.

“Keep that up and we’ll see how injured you are,” Edelgard huffed.

“Okay, okay. She’s off limits, we get it,” Edelgard scowled at him harder. She changed her mind, he was every bit as insufferable as he had always been, job or not. 

Sylvain cast his attention to the SUVs. “Bernie? How about you? I know a nice art gallery in Derdriu we can go to!” He flashed what Edelgard supposed was his winningest smile at Bernadetta who had been busy with Hubert and Petra, trying how best to remove the cursing man stuck in the car which was stuck in the bucket of the front loader. Thankfully, that man had lost his gun in the scuffle and resorted to hurling insults instead.

Bernadetta squeaked loudly and immediately ran to the other side of the front loader, out of Sylvain’s sight. Out of sight, out of mind, Edelgard figured.

“No? What about you, Hubie? I’m sure I could find somewhere nice we could go to,” Sylvain waggled his eyebrows at Hubert as Edelgard nearly choked on her sip of water. 

“Don’t call me that. And I don’t like nice.” Hubert replied, monotone, “But I do like ruining your life. Do you want me to anonymously send Ingrid your internet history?” He barely looked up from his examination of the situation before him.

“I’ll also take that as a no,” Sylvain laughed, awkwardly backpedalling and turning away from Hubert.

Meanwhile, Ferdinand and Caspar disappeared into the warehouse and reappeared moments later, dragging an unconscious Kostos between them. They cuffed his hands behind his back for good measure. Edelgard was fairly certain that he had a broken nose by the looks of it. His entire face was red and swollen as well, having taken the brunt of whatever Caspar loaded the duffel bag with. They stuffed him unceremoniously into the back of the blue SUV- Sylvain’s ride, equipped with the divider between the front and the back seat so he could transport Kostas and his goons.

They disappeared again, around the side of the building, probably to retrieve Petra’s prey from earlier. As they did, Edelgard heard the telltale sound of Petra’s tranquilizer gun go off again and she looked up to realize that Petra had just nonchalantly shot the third man.

“There, now it is easy. We are only having to lower the car down to get him.” She looked very proud of herself. 

“Now that's what I call problem solving,” Dorothea also looked extremely pleased at this development. She finished wrapping Sylvain’s ankle with a flourish and got up to join the others, hovering over Petra to check over her condition.

“I won’t be able to do more for either of you until we’re back at the base, try to breathe deeply. You should be fine.” Linhardt sighed as he helped Edelgard back to her feet. Once he was sure that Edelgard was steady on her own, he then reached down to do the same with Byleth. Sandwiched between the two of them, Byleth made it to the white SUV with little issue and gratefully relaxed into the back seat of the car.

Edelgard made a move to go help Hubert and the others with the rest of the cleanup when a hand grabbed hers, pulling her back. Confused, Edelgard turned to look back at Byleth, who had a firm grip on her hand. “You should rest more, trust the Eagles to handle things,” Byleth smiled at her, even in her unsteady state, it took Edelgard’s breath away. 

Edelgard looked away, flushing. In the chaos of everything, she had nearly forgotten the effect that Byleth, no Byleth in those infuriating clothes that the infuriating Dorothea had dressed her in, had on Edelgard. 

“You’re looking kind of warm, Edelgard.” Linhardt commented, watching this interaction, bemused. “I think it’s also best you sit in the car with Byleth. Doctor’s orders.” He added for good measure, not that Edelgard would argue. He ushered her into the car with Byleth and left the door open so they wouldn’t overheat inside the car. Byleth didn’t release Edelgard’s hand until Edelgard shifted so she could remove her own jacket and bulletproof vest.

Edelgard wished she could’ve just left it alone and sat with Byleth’s hand but the vest was digging into her uncomfortably. She mourned the loss of contact but the sensation of Byleth’s knee against the outside of her own brought another flush to her face. Byleth was casually sprawled out over her side of the seat, leaned back against the corner of where the car door and seat met. The sun shone brightly through the window behind her, giving her almost an ethereal glow.

Her eyes were closed in mild discomfort and Edelgard was glad that she couldn’t see her staring at her unabashedly.

The Eagles were nothing but a well oiled machine, and within minutes, had the rest of the situation cleaned up, fugitives packed away into Sylvain’s car. Caspar and Bernadetta disappeared with the front loader and pickup to clear up the rest of their blockade- taking Ferdinand and Petra with them. Byleth sat up properly again as Linhardt slid into the back seat with them, sandwiching Edelgard between them. Supposedly, Linhardt was keeping an eye on them but he already dozed off, not too worried about their conditions. At least that was a good sign. A worried Linhardt was never a good thing.

Dorothea was still loading the duffel and briefcase into the trunk of the car with the rest of their things when Sylvain suddenly leapt out of his car. He had been sitting in the front seat of his car, fiddling with something in the passenger seat- a radio by the sounds of static. Suddenly, he was out of his car and waving frantically at them. “You guys have to get out of here. Someone heard the gunshots and called the cops. They have real cops on the way now. Best you guys get out of here before anyone sees you.” 

“Aren’t you a real cop?” Byleth questioned, squinting against the sunlight. She really looked much better now than she had earlier.

“I’m more than a real cop, excuse you. I just figured you wouldn't want to be here for all the official business and red tape. I can think of a few people who’d like to see you behind bars.” Sylvain looked indignant then sheepish, scratching his head awkwardly. For all the bravado and charm he seemed to exude earlier, he almost seemed shy now. “I’m going to keep you guys out of the official version of the events but it's really hard to do that if a bunch of other cops see you guys here and ask questions, you know?”

For all the hot air that he spewed, it looked like it was at least coming from a decent place, Edelgard surmised.

“Hubie! Let’s go!” Dorothea called as she got into the driver’s seat. The SUV started quietly and both Edelgard and Byleth sighed in relief as the air conditioning kicked in. Hubert paused by Sylvain momentarily, collecting the borrowed com. He gently dropped the com into a plastic container like it was some terribly contaminated thing and climbed into the passenger seat next to Dorothea. A large black backpack was clutched to his chest. He had dutifully retrieved all of his cameras from the warehouse.

Byleth waved at Sylvain as they pulled out into the street, they had just turned down the block when they spotted a black sports car, sirens blaring coming down the street. That didn’t look like real regular cops. The sports car ripped past them, heading for the warehouse. “Dorothea? Could you double back? Keep your distance and just park somewhere we can see what’s happening.” Edelgard twisted in her seat to keep an eye on the rapidly receding vehicle.

“Why, Edie? Don’t we want to get out of here as fast as we can?” Dorothea glanced up at her quizzically, clearly confused.

“Typically, ‘real cops’ don’t drive unmarked sports cars,” Edelgard even made the air quotes for emphasis. 

Understanding dawned on Dorothea’s face. “You’re worried it’s more of Kostas’ goons?"

“Yeah,” Edelgard finally relented, it came out more like a whisper. She knew that she shouldn’t really care about Sylvain. They were on opposite sides of the field more often than not, getting rid of him wouldn’t be that big of a deal. But still, it didn’t sit right with her if they left him by himself, injured, in a situation like this. It wasn’t that she cared about him, she decided, it was that she didn’t like leaving people that she worked with out to dry- no matter what side of the law they stood on. She had the Black Eagles’ reputation to protect.

Dorothea nodded and turned the car around. They pulled up just down the street, just far enough not to arouse suspicion but close enough for them to see what was happening in front of the courtyard. The black sports car had pulled right up to Sylvain’s car. Dorothea had closed the windows so people couldn’t see into the car but left the windows open enough so that they could try to hear.

Two people got out of the black car. A man and a woman. The man had dark hair and an even darker mood- maybe enough to give Hubert a run for his money. The woman had long blonde hair, pulled back in a neat braid, she looked furious with Sylvain. 

Felix and Ingrid. 

Edelgard recognized them as members of the Blue Lions Taskforce. She had encountered them in the past as well. They came off as severe and took their jobs much more seriously than Sylvain appeared to. There was a reason why Sylvain was chosen- these two would never be caught doing something like this.

Sylvain looked surprised to see the two of them and he at the same time seemed to puff up and shrink in on himself. An impossible feat, but somehow the way that he stood up straighter and prouder made him seem even smaller than he really was. Like the more properly he stood, the less he seemed to exude his usual confidence and force. Something about the other two changed his demeanour- or maybe it was the situation he was in right now.

Edelgard could hear him telling the other two repeatedly that he was fine, everything was taken care of and he only had minor injuries. He had the wanted fugitives and that was all there was to it. Felix and Ingrid berated him for a minute longer about not following the rules and how foolish it was to be out here by himself with no back up but Sylvain only grinned at them. Finally, the two of them gave up.

Felix returned to his car and Ingrid helped Sylvain into the passenger seat of the blue SUV. She dusted what Edelgard supposed was glitter off of Sylvain's clothes. It seemed like they weren’t going to let him drive with the sprained ankle. 

As Ingrid came back around, she paused, staring directly at them. There was a moment of silence as she kept staring right at them. Edelgard knew that the windows were tinted and there was no way, at that angle, Ingrid could see into the car. But even so, it felt like Ingrid was staring right at her, seeing right into her. 

Felix backed out into the street and then paused momentarily. Edelgard could feel everyone in the car tense up. Dorothea was a good driver but she was no Caspar, there was no way that their car would be able to outrun Felix’s car. They collectively relaxed again once he drove in the opposite direction. Ingrid followed suit. 

“Sylvain’s in good hands, let’s go home.” Edelgard said. She leaned back in her seat, suddenly very tired, as if the whole ordeal had taken its toll on her all at once. She looked out the window at the city streets passing by them. She felt a deep exhaustion in her bones. Maybe it was time for a change of scenery.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think I'm liking these shorter chapters about once a week. That's a good pace for me right now to keep writing in my free time without feeling like it's becoming too much of a chore. 
> 
> Sylvain was an interesting character to write and actually strangely fun. 
> 
> Hope you enjoyed the new chapter! See you next week :)


	4. Flayn

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Byleth is surprised. And then surprised again.

Byleth flopped backwards onto her bed. It was new, but strangely familiar. A few days after the whole Kostas incident, the Black Eagles decided to move on from Remire. They’d be back- they never stayed in one place too long anyway. So in the wee hours of the morning, the entire group piled into an innocuous private jet- piloted by one very excitable Caspar. 

Byleth pouted the whole way, she had to leave her bike behind at their base in Remire. It wouldn’t fit on the plane. She brought her duffel bag of belongings, taking only a few of the new clothes that Dorothea and Ferdinand had gotten her.

Much to her surprise, when she met up with the others at the plane, everyone else seemed like they weren’t bringing more than a single backpack or tote bag. Among all the Eagles though, Bernadetta stood out with her pitcher plant in a clay pot. And Edelgard’s sole belonging seemed to be a large flat rectangle, aside from a purse, carefully wrapped in many layers of cloth. By the size of it and the weight of it- Byleth had loaded it onto the plane while Edelgard was busy ironing a few of the last minute details with Caspar, it was the Red Carnations painting from the last heist.

They never discussed what they were doing with the painting, Edelgard had simply taken it to her room after the job was done and nobody asked any questions of it. It seemed that it was a painting that she had wanted specifically for her own reasons. Byleth wondered why. The way that Edelgard had stared at the painting on the night of the Gerth estate heist had made something inside Byleth’s gut twist- there was a deep emotion that was ingrained on her face that Byleth had never seen directed at anything else before. It went beyond admiring a beautiful painting. Briefly, Byleth wondered what about that painting could bring on such feelings in a person like Edelgard and could Byleth ever feel so strongly about something too?

Not that she would ever get the chance to ask Edelgard about it. As soon as she boarded the jet, she and Hubert huddled together in the back of the plane, no doubt talking about work. Byleth spent the rest of the flight alternating between playing chess with Ferdinand or Petra and napping. She swore that a few times she could feel someone's eyes on her, but when she looked up, everyone was deep in their own activities.

“Byleth!” There was a knock on her door. She scrambled to her feet, she hadn’t even gotten a chance to unpack yet. The others had left her to her own devices, everyone had their own things to do. Hastily, she kicked her half open duffel bag under her bed. She’d get around to unpacking her things properly later but she didn’t want the other Eagles to see her things in such a state.

The Black Eagles homebase in Derdriu was a lot like their base in Remire. Similar decor, similar amenities and rooms. The layout was a little bit different, the building that the base was housed in was a different shape than the one in Remire. Skilled thieves or not, the Black Eagles knew what they liked and it was no problem for them to recreate it here. 

Unfortunately for Byleth, it meant that her room in Derdriu was completely bare, even with her few meager possessions that she had brought with her. Funnily enough, she had packed the most but here she was, with the least. It made sense though, why keep moving everything around as they travelled when you could just have everything that you wanted waiting for you there?

She got to the door as a second series of loud knocks resounded throughout the room. She threw it open to find a very impatient Caspar waiting for her, almost bouncing off the walls. He thrust a black sleep mask at her. “Put this on!” 

She stared blankly at it, confused. It was still the middle of the day. There was no need for a sleep mask. She wasn’t about to go to bed any time soon. “There’s a surprise waiting for you! But you have to put this on!” 

Caspar was already putting the mask over her eyes, tired of waiting for her. He let her adjust the elastic that held it in place. It let no light through and seemed to mold to her face perfectly. “It’s one of Hubert’s fancy memory foam sleep masks.” Caspar’s voice dropped to a conspiratorial whisper. “I think he has other uses for it though.”

Byleth nearly choked at that statement. She resisted the urge to rip the thing off of her face and allowed Caspar to steer her throughout the house. She tried to keep track of the different stairs and turns that Caspar led her down but was unfamiliar with the layout of the new base. She tried to use her ears and listen for any clues but Caspar was whistling and purposefully stomping around- he really wanted to make sure this was a surprise. Eventually she gave up, she had a feeling Caspar was just walking her around in circles as well. 

Eventually, they came to a standstill. It was quiet. The slight hum of some kind of ventilation was the only sound in the background. Byleth shivered, she wished she had actually got the chance to change into something. She had stripped off her jacket and sweater when she got to her room but never put anything back over the white tank top that she was now regretting. Goosebumps were beginning to creep her bare arms.

Wait. Why was it cold? 

It wasn’t just cold. Byleth turned her face from side to side just to be sure. There was a draft. She was sure of it. She could feel it on the exposed parts of her face. They had to be in the-

At that moment, gentle fingers skimmed lightly over her face, almost like a butterfly. Warmth rippled across the patches of skin that those fingers danced across. What was happening? Before Byleth could say anything, the mask was lifted off of her face. She blinked owlishly, trying to adjust to the bright fluorescent lights. They were in the garage.

All the Black Eagles were present, gathered around her in a semi circle. They were all smiling at her, even Hubert who looked less scary than he usually did. Edelgard smiled brightly, she stood right beside Byleth, with the mask in her hands. She had been the one to remove the mask.

Byleth felt her heart leap in her chest at Edelgard’s smile. She was blinding in all of her radiance. With a small flourish, she gently turned Byleth around to face the other direction. Before her stood a motorbike. Sleek and black as the night. Familiar.

Her bike?

Byleth stepped forward, stunned. Gently, as if she might break it, she placed a hand on the seat of the bike. No, this wasn’t her bike. The seat wasn’t worn and scuffed like hers was. There wasn’t the slight ding on the right side from a near miss she had a few years ago.

“You seemed really put out that we couldn’t bring your motorbike with us here. I know it’s not the same, but maybe this will help make you feel better? I hope it’s to your liking. We did our best to make it as close as possible to yours. Please consider this as a welcoming gift from all of the Black Eagles” Edelgard was rambling now, fidgeting nervously, her expression anxious. 

Byleth smiled at her. This wasn’t her exact motorbike per se. But it was _her_ motorbike now. It was a gift. And she wasn’t going to look a gift motorbike in the wheel. “I really like it. I’m very grateful that you would do this for me.” A strange emotion swelled inside her. Not a bad one, but intense. 

She couldn’t remember the last time anyone had done something like this for her, had gone out of their way for her like this.

Dorothea leaned forward with a hand cupped around her mouth like she was trying to tell Byleth a secret but from across the room. “Edelgard spent all plane ride here trying to get you the right one and to get it here in time,” she whisper-yelled.

From beside Byleth, Edelgard only turned a deeper shade of red, unwilling to meet Byleth’s gaze. So it wasn’t work Edelgard was so deeply engrossed in on the flight. Byleth’s heart fluttered again. 

“Oh shush, we sprung the decision to move on Byleth so suddenly and she was so agreeable with it, that I felt bad that she wouldn’t have her motorbike here when we all have our belongings.” She was fidgeting again, on the defensive.

“Do you want to come take it for a test ride?” Byleth ran her hands up and down the frame of the motorbike, eager to take the bike out for a spin and explore the streets of Derdriu.

Edelgard looked up, surprised at the offer. “Oh no, no, it’s your new motorbike. I don’t want to intrude on that.”

“It’s a bike, what are you possibly intruding on?” Byleth questioned, very confused. “You’re also very knowledgeable about Derdriu, I could do with a tour of the city if that’s okay?” She had been to Derdriu before but never had the capacity to go explore the city freely.

“Edie, you should definitely go with Byleth. We wouldn’t want her getting lost now would we? It’ll be good for her to get familiar with the city...” Dorothea winked at the two of them and began ushering the rest of the Black Eagles out. “Oh! I nearly forgot, Byleth, I left a few items of clothing in your closet- you might find them... _fitting_ for what you are about to do.” 

* * *

It was a lot more humid out in Derdriu than in Remire. They went out for bike rides more than once over the next week or so. It was too hot to be out for much longer than a few hours and traffic in Derdriu was a lot busier than Remire, meaning Edelgard had to plan the where and when of their trips very meticulously.

They hadn’t intended for it to become a semi-regular event but on the first day, their trip had gotten cut short by pouring rain and Edelgard insisted that she would make up the rest of the tour on the next available day. So when Byleth showed up at her room door, clad in her motorbike gear the next day, Byleth was delighted that Edelgard pushed herself away from her work to join her on the bike. They didn’t complete the tour of the city that day either, Byleth was so caught up in trying to help a giant tortoise that was slowly crossing the street that they were both too sweaty and tired to do much else but return to the Black Eagles homebase. 

And so on it went. Byleth would show up sometime in the afternoon, motorbike gear in hand, and Edelgard would mock reluctantly leave whatever she was doing behind to go with her. If the other Eagles had anything to say about it, they certainly kept it to themselves.

Byleth enjoyed herself, nonetheless. It was hard not to, Derdriu was a beautiful city and there was just so much to see. Edelgard had her arms wrapped lightly around Byleth’s waist. Just enough pressure to constantly remind Byleth of her presence. Byleth enjoyed the sensation of Edelgard pressed up behind her more than she cared to admit. The silence was comfortable, even though Byleth would like to talk and ask Edelgard questions, she didn’t want to break the established mood and silence either. It felt more and more like Edelgard was beginning to enjoy herself on these trips, that this was as much of a getaway for her as it was for Byleth. It scared Byleth to think about what these trips would become if she broke this almost sacred silence.

Byleth didn’t know what she was getting herself into with her private interactions with Edelgard, but she would like to find out.

Edelgard seemed relaxed, giving Byleth directions via gestures and pointing out local landmarks as they passed them. After an hour of taking the bike up and down the oceanside area in Derdriu, the two of them found themselves relaxing in a rocky park nearby. 

Despite the cool breeze whipping by them on the motorbike, they had still grown sticky and sweaty under the hot summer sun. Byleth could feel the sweat gathering in the crevices of her helmet, condensation pressing against her cheeks. 

The removal of her helmet was met with a sigh of relief and the pair of them settled down on a large rock overlooking the rocky shoreline. 

Byleth decided that the combination of the extra humidity in the air and the relentless sun beating down on her made it less feasible for her to keep wearing these leather pants. Although, Edelgard kept glancing over at her pants. Maybe it wasn’t the most appropriate attire for today’s weather. Could you get sunstroke from wearing leather pants in the sun? Or maybe she wanted a pair of leather pants for herself? Byleth could ask Dorothea about getting Edelgard a pair of her own. She was sure that Edelgard would look good in them.

“I think I can see an ice cream cart, do you want anything?” Edelgard suddenly squinted off into the distance. Byleth turned to look in the same direction, there was a telltale blue cart stopped a little ways away down the path behind them.

“Surprise me?” Byleth said. She couldn’t remember the last time that she had an ice cream. She rolled up the sleeves on her open red flannel shirt and relished in the sensation of the cool breeze against her exposed skin. Was she ever glad that she opted not to wear the matching leather jacket that came with these pants.

Edelgard studied her for a moment, like she could somehow suss out Byleth’s ice cream order from her face. “Okay, I’ll be right back then.” She got up from the large rock that the two of them were sitting on and dusted her pants off. Byleth watched her as she approached the now stopped ice cream cart. A bit of a line had gathered but Byleth was content to wait. 

As she waited for Edelgard to return, Byleth returned to people-watching. She still glanced over to Edelgard every minute or so to make sure she was doing okay. Hopefully, sending Kostas away meant that they had some peace and quiet for a while. Byleth knew that this was wishful thinking, she had a nagging feeling that there was something else on the horizon. 

Turning her attention from a group of kids trying to skip some rocks, a flash of bright green caught her attention. Byleth brought a hand up over her eyes to block out some of the sun and get a better view. A shock of bright green hair bobbed slowly down the path. The owner of said hair was a sullen young woman, looking tense and moodily kicking a stone off the path.

“Flayn?” Byleth got up and called out to the girl. 

At the sound of her name, the girl immediately perked up, looking around wildly for the source of the sound. Byleth grinned and waved at the girl, who upon spotting her, jogged over, a grin breaking out over her face, literally turning that frown upside down.

“Byleth! What are you doing here?” She threw herself into Byleth’s open arms in a big hug.

“I’ve got some work here, you know how it is.” Byleth said vaguely. They broke apart, still grinning widely at each other. Byleth felt bad about lying to Flayn, well not technically lying.

She and Seteth had helped her out in the past, letting her stay with them when she first retired as the Ashen Demon and was just a lost soul, wandering the world. They gave her something to anchor to while she sorted herself out.

The two of them had shown her nothing but kindness and generosity- it certainly helped that Seteth ran a little local fishing shack and provided her with all the necessary equipment for her to fish to her heart’s content. Byleth remembered that time fondly. She couldn’t ask for a better opportunity to really allow her to leave the Ashen Demon behind. It was those blissful days where she needed nothing and wanted nothing that allowed her to move on.

But as much as she trusted Flayn though, it was probably a good idea to keep her newfound membership with the Black Eagles a secret for now.

Flayn tutted at her like one would at a misbehaving child, “You and your work. Are you taking care of yourself? Are you still fishing?” 

“Yes, and yes.” Byleth responded. Despite being younger, Flayn was incredibly caring and often doted on Byleth. She fondly recalled how Flayn often tried to cook meals for her, serving strange platters of largely inedible and unrecognizable chunks. After a while, Byleth took up the task of cooking their meals, and even though Byleth was the one who had cooked, Flayn still hounded after her to make sure she ate. “And you? What are you doing here in Derdriu? How is Seteth and the business?”

Flayn’s face fell at the mention of her father and the shop that they ran together. Seteth and Flayn’s late mother started the store together and he decided to keep it going in her late mother’s memory- especially since Flayn showed such passion for fishing, herself.

“Is Seteth okay? Did something happen?” Byleth gently grabbed Flayn’s shoulders. Seteth was a very shrewd businessman and an even more responsible father. Was he in trouble? What kind of trouble could he possibly land himself in? Byleth didn’t like the expression that Flayn was making right now at all.

Flayn looked down at the ground, shame and guilt washed over her features. All of a sudden, she threw herself back into Byleth’s arms and burst into tears, burying her face against Byleth’s shoulder.

Byleth froze. She was way out of her depth. She had never really had to deal with someone crying before, nevermind Flayn crying. She couldn’t remember ever seeing Flayn cry. This was completely new for her. Not only that though, she might-

“Byleth?” 

Edelgard had returned. 

Byleth turned her head slightly to look over her shoulder, all the while, she kept a comforting hand on Flayn’s back, rubbing what she hoped was soothing circles. Edelgard stood behind her, a mixture of surprise and something Byleth couldn’t place on her face, holding two popsicles in her hand.

“Edelgard, hi. I don’t know what you’re thinking but to be honest I also don’t really know what’s happening.” Byleth gave her the most apologetic look she could muster.

Edelgard closed her eyes. She breathed in deeply, then out, counting to ten under her breath. Once those ten seconds were up, she opened her eyes again, professional composure in place. “Why don’t we find somewhere more private to handle this then?” She thrust the popsicle into Byleth’s free hand. 

Byleth had broken through the unspoken layer of peace that surrounded these trips with a big crying Flayn-shaped cannonball. 

The goddess was playing some kind of a strange joke on her, Byleth decided.

* * *

They found themselves crammed into a little booth of a diner just down the street from the park, sitting silently, digesting. The patio of the diner was crammed full of people enjoying the lovely weather outside, leaving the inside relatively empty. Byleth felt like she was caught in the middle of a storm though.

She sat beside Flayn in the booth, directly across from Edelgard. Edelgard calmly sipped a steaming hot cup of tea- bergamot, from the smell of it. The aura she gave off was distant, chilly even. A direct juxtaposition to her drink of choice and her earlier good mood. She had adopted this aura the moment they started walking from the park.

Flayn had a chocolate milkshake with whipped cream that nearly towered over her form. All signs of her earlier breakdown were gone. She was still quiet though, not her usual curious, chattery self. Byleth could tell she felt awkward, shirking under the weight of Edelgard’s cold and calculating gaze.

Byleth had managed to piece together what had happened between Flayn’s tears and hiccupping sobs on their way to the diner. Seteth made a very special fishing lure- designed for very specific, very rare fish. It was very potent and extremely difficult to make apparently. Of the hundreds of attempts to create it, only one completed lure had ever come of it. Flayn had come to Derdriu with Monica, an assistant that Seteth had recently hired, to see a friend of Seteth’s to see if he could make more of the lure with his specialized equipment. He usually made these business trips by himself but a lot of creeps had been dropping by the store and harassing the girls. So he sent the two of them on the trip while he ran the store.

Everything had been going smoothly up until after Flayn met with her father’s friend with the lure. They left the friend’s place- lure still present and returned to the hotel. Flayn stored the lure in the little safe at the hotel and went out to get something to eat. Monica had stayed behind claiming that she had been feeling a little sick.

By the time Flayn returned, the lure was gone.

“You don’t think that Monica took the lure and just stashed it somewhere?” Byleth asked, finally breaking the silence. She couldn’t handle this strange tension that permeated the air between them. She picked up a fry and dipped it in ketchup. She popped it in her mouth and made a face. The ketchup was too sweet. 

“I don’t think Monica would do that. She’s a really nice person.” Flayn mumbled into her milkshake. Oh thank the goddess that Flayn responded, Byleth half expected Flayn to just silently stare into her drink the whole time.

“You said you hired her pretty recently though. So you’ve known her for what, a little bit over a month?” Edelgard regarded Flayn skeptically. Byleth knew that Edelgard was silently judging Flayn’s naivete. She was glad that Edelgard was joining the conversation but she didn’t want her to join like this.

Byleth nudged Edelgard under the table with her foot. Edelgard shot her a glare- _what_?

Byleth shook her head slightly at Edelgard. _Stop it._

Edelgard spread her free hand open casually, palm up in question. _Stop what?_

Byleth glared, eyes narrowed at her. _You know what. Stop it._

“Even if she stole it I think that she must have a good reason for it! Like she was being blackmailed or forced to or something!” Flayn set her jaw in a resolute frown. She didn’t believe that Monica would be capable of such a thing. Fortunately, she didn’t seem to notice their unspoken conversation on the side.

Despite that though, Byleth knew that Edelgard was correct in this situation. Flayn wasn’t the most perceptive person in matters like these, she was trusting and honest- some of the things that Byleth had really liked about her. However, Monica could have easily been pretending.

“And you called the authorities?” Byleth picked up a bottle of mustard from the little sauce caddy on the table. She squirted a dollop onto her plate and swirled a fry in that. Edelgard stared at her, a mixture of disgust and fascination at her actions.

“Yeah. They looked into it and said there wasn’t any concrete evidence that Monica was involved. They conducted searches and everything. It’s hard to do anything when they can’t find the lure itself.” Flayn looked visibly deflated at that. “There’s just circumstantial stuff that probably won’t hold up.” 

“Oh, like what?” Edelgard watched Byleth pop the now yellow fry into her mouth with a wince. Byleth made a face, mustard was not the right choice.

“They caught her on camera leaving the room after I did. She said she was sneaking out to see her boyfriend here in Derdriu and didn’t want to get in trouble for it because she was technically working.” Flayn swirled the straw in the milkshake, watching the streaks of white cream disappear into the drink.

“You don’t believe that do you?” Byleth mumbled, she fumbled for her drink, wanting to wash the strange taste out of her mouth.

“I mean, they found the boyfriend and questioned him about it so I think she’s telling the truth.” Flayn shrugged, shoulders drooping.

Edelgard sighed, “That doesn’t mean that she didn’t do it. That just means that the boyfriend might be in on it.” 

Flayn looked like she was on the verge of tears again. Getting into an argument about whether or not Flayn thought that Monica actually did it was not helping. “Your dad knows?” Byleth asked. She winced, maybe this wasn’t a good topic either.

“Yeah. He’s glad I’m safe. But I know this lure meant a lot to him. He and mother had been working on it together before she passed away. He wanted to finish it in her memory.” Flayn’s voice was barely above a whisper. She twisted the hem of her blouse tightly between her fists. “I really hate to ask this of you. But do you think you could find the lure, Byleth? I know this isn’t really your line of work anymore but you seemed to really like fixing problems and finding lost things even after you retired.” 

Byleth stared at Flayn, a fry halfway to her mouth, frozen. She had not been expecting this. But that’s what she had told Flayn had been her job that she retired- private investigator. She couldn’t exactly tell Flayn that she had been a deadly mercenary in the past. 

Edelgard gave her a confused glance, wondering what Byleth had told Flayn her past line of work had been. Byleth shook her head, they could discuss this later, when Flayn wasn’t around.

Sure, Byleth had been good at solving problems, but that was like fixing a leaky pipe, finding a lost cat- not solving a theft that the police couldn’t seem to figure out.

 _But_ , she did live with a group of infamous thieves. If anyone could figure out how a theft went down and dig up evidence, it would be some of the best thieves in the business, no?

She glanced back at Edelgard, who had already traced her line of thought from the expression on her face. It was Edelgard’s turn to shake her head. _This isn’t what we do._

 _Please?_ Byleth stuck her bottom lip out, giving Edelgard her saddest looking puppy dog eyes.

Edelgard rolled her eyes and looked away, flushing faintly. That wasn’t a no! 

“Actually, Flayn. Edelgard’s really good at this kind of thing. Would it be okay if I asked her for help?” Byleth smiled brightly at Edelgard, who’s expression morphed into extreme displeasure.

 _I didn’t say yes!_ Edelgard kicked Byleth sharply in the shin under the table.

 _You didn’t say no!_ Byleth shot Edelgard a look in response, hiding her wince of pain.

“Would you really, Edelgard? I would be forever in your debt if you could get the lure back!” Flayn’s eyes shone with unshed tears, she clasped her hands together tightly, the epitome of hopefulness in that moment. 

Byleth threw an arm around Flayn’s shoulders and drew her closer, she added her own beaming smile to Flayn’s expression. She could see Edelgard’s cool composure cracking under the sudden attention. Finally, Edelgard had to look away, the intensity of their combined gazes too much for her to bear straight on.

“I’ll look into it,” she mumbled.

* * *

“You know this is kind of outside of our wheelhouse,” Caspar commented, looking over some of the files that were spread out over the common room coffee table. He picked one at random, skimming through the pages.

Edelgard must have contacted Hubert and filled him in on everything because by the time that they returned, Hubert had a stack of information prepared in the common room for them. It was scary how efficient he could be. 

“Dealing with Kostas was also kind of outside of our wheelhouse- so to speak. Maybe it’s time we expanded our horizons?” Dorothea reminded him, picking daintily at a piece of cake. “But that's besides the point, I thought the two of you were out doing your motorbike tour of Derdriu- how did you end up suddenly picking up a job? I know we said we’d be keeping an eye out for something to do, but this seems sudden.”

“I ran into my friend at the park. She seemed like she was in a real pickle and the local authorities haven’t been able to help her at all. I asked Edelgard if we could help.” Bylet shrugged nonchalantly. 

“Ah, so it's a personal matter. Edie loves personal matters.” Dorothea smirked at Edelgard, pointing her fork at her knowingly.

“I don’t know what you are talking about. I agreed that we could look into it, nothing more.” Edelgard retorted with a flip of her hair. 

“S-so the object in question is a fishing lure?” Bernadetta asked, puzzled. She held up a hand drawn sketch of the lure that Flayn had made on a napkin. She was sifting through a bunch of pictures of the lure being made that Flayn had sent over. The entire time, she was whispering quietly to herself, making calculations.

“It’s a very special fishing lure,” Byleth nodded vigorously. Secretly, she hoped that when they recovered the lure, she could look into its design as well. There was so much to learn.

“She is saying that she is bringing the fishing lure to a friend of her father’s to make more of-” Petra stood before a large map of Derdriu that she had wheeled in on a portable board. She jabbed her finger sharply at a point on the map “-here.” She proceeded to mark that spot on the map with a red pin. “She is staying here.” A blue pin went up on the map. “She is having the lure when she left the friend but when she is checking for it after in her hotel, she is not having it.” 

“And she doesn’t think that her part-timer is the one who stole the lure?” Linhardt asked, practically draped over the arm of the sofa and Caspar to try to read the file Caspar was holding.

“Well, Monica definitely stole it. But the authorities haven’t been able to find anything on her. And Flayn keeps insisting that if Monica _had_ stolen it, then it was under duress or had a good reason for stealing it.” Edelgard sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. “As if we ever need good reasons for stealing things beyond wanting to.”

“Does she know about us?” Caspar asked, confused.

“No, I think she thinks we’re private detectives, or helpful people, or something. She’s too naive to think that stealing things is exactly what we do.” Edelgard shot Byleth an unreadable look. Edelgard hadn’t forgotten about Byleth’s whole ‘line of work’ comment from Flayn.

Edelgard seemed stressed. Something else seemed to be troubling her. Byleth got up from her spot on the ground and headed into the kitchen wordlessly. She dug through the large freezer, Caspar had mentioned earlier in the day that he and Ferdinand were going out to pick up more supplies. She was sure that meant they picked up everyone’s favourites and there- aha. Triumphantly, she pulled out the little carton buried in the back.

Edelgard’s favourite peach sorbet.

Byleth continued to listen to the meeting as she stealthily scooped a large scoop into a little bowl, angling her body so Edelgard wouldn’t be able to see what she was doing from her vantage point.

“You seem awfully confident that Monica is the one responsible for this. You can just tell that she stole it?” Ferdinand was asking. Clearly he didn’t believe Flayn’s theory but it didn’t seem like there was any evidence for Monica being the perpetrator. 

“We are thieves, Ferdinand. We have been doing this for a long time. Don’t tell me you can’t tell she’s the one behind this from just looking at the files?” Edelgard shot back cooly, she didn’t appreciate his tone. 

“Of course I can! I was just testing you! I have to make sure you are still up to snuff!” Ferdinand declared loudly, covering up any embarrassment with bravado. Hubert and Linhardt sighed audibly.

“Well if you want more- Hubert, please pull up the police interview tapes that you sent me on the screen,” Edelgard ignored Ferdinand’s declaration in favour of moving forward with the meeting. “You can see for yourself, ‘Mr. I Could Charm the Shell Off a Turtle’”. Ferdinand flushed, actually embarrassed now.

Byleth remembered that statement being made in a drunken argument the ginger had against Dorothea one night. They had been bragging about who was better at their role and to prove a point, Dorothea had thrown herself into Hubert’s lap. Flustered, Ferdinand had ended making said turtle statement.

“Please. Let’s not bring that incident up. I can feel a headache coming on at the mere mention of it.” Hubert intoned, still busily typing away on his laptop. A second later the screen on the far wall flickered to life. A recording played, the voices tinny and the picture grainy.

“You know, I had hoped their recording equipment would be better than a camcorder that my parents used in the 90s.” Caspar noted dryly.

Byleth returned to the common room, bowl of peach sorbet in hand. She had to agree with Caspar, even cell phones could do a better job than this. She held the sorbet at eye level next to Edelgard, offering it to her but made no other motion, waiting for Edelgard to notice and take it. A peace offering of sorts.

It took Edelgard a moment to register Byleth’s presence and the offered treat. She eyed Byleth suspiciously, she could figure out Byleth’s hidden intentions. With a sigh, she accepted it gratefully, any distraction right now was welcome it seemed, especially one of her favourite treats. Eagerly, she dug in. 

“She’s lying.” Ferdinand huffed angrily, folding his arms across his chest petulantly after a minute of watching the video. “She’s an amateur and she’s lying. Look at her, she’s so smug, playing it up for the camera. She clearly has no respect for the art.” 

Edelgard gave Byleth an unimpressed ‘I told you so’ look. She might not be the best grifter in the group, but she could tell Monica was definitely hiding something- something big.

“But Ferdie, look at the cop who’s interviewing her. Look at his body language. He’s not just being friendly to make her comfortable? The lulls in the interview feel unnatural. There’s obvious follow up questions he should be asking but he’s not. I think he’s in on it too?” Dorothea’s eyes remained glued to the now replaying video. Her brows were furrowed in concentration.

“You’re right. This means that this goes beyond just simple theft. She has to have some power or money or something to have a cop in her pocket as well. Either she isn’t who she says she is, or someone more powerful is pulling her strings.” Ferdinand hummed, he was still affronted by the interview video but his interest had been piqued. 

“Well, no wonder the authorities haven’t found anything.” Linhardt stifled a yawn, still managing to sound sarcastic through the yawn.

“We’ve got a couple locations that she frequents in Derdriu that we should stake out. Even if she isn’t truly involved, she is acting suspicious enough to warrant some looking into. We should go see what we can dig up on her. Hubert-” Edelgard looked to their faithful hacker who held a hand up to stop her before she could say any more.

“Rest assured, I will dig up every piece of dirt on her that I can.” Hubert said darkly, he seemed oddly riled up. He stood up stiffly, as if suddenly realizing that there was too much emotion in his words. “I need a cup of coffee.” He stated flatly, as if that was an explanation.

They all looked at each other, a little surprised at his sudden display of emotion. Byleth nodded to herself thoughtfully, maybe… she’d check in on Hubert later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little Byleth background here and some more characters and we're off to the next job :)
> 
> Thank you for reading (and leaving kudos and comments)!
> 
> Stay safe!


	5. Hubert

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hubert is stressed. The Black Eagles are worried about him but won't confront him. Byleth steps in. 
> 
> Or.
> 
> Hubert gets threatened.

Hubert sighed, he could feel another headache coming on. He stood in the kitchen, waiting silently for his kettle to boil. Unfortunately, his gooseneck kettle that he used specifically for brewing his coffee came in a set with the regular kettle that Dorothea had procured. At least this time the blasted thing was a ‘soothing mint’ colour, as Dorothea had put it, and not hot pink. A simple pour over brewer sat on top of his mug and the whole contraption sat on top of a kitchen scale. (He said mug, but in reality it was closer to a tankard.) The scent of freshly ground coffee beans wafted up to him from where they sat in the filter in the brewer. 

A moment later, there was a faint beep, indicating the kettle was done. He checked his watch, waited for the second hand to sweep past the 12- then with practiced motions, began pouring the hot water into the brewer. Slow, gentle circles. 100 grams of water first. Hubert watched with immense satisfaction at the ‘bloom’, the cloud of bubbles that pushed their way to the top of the now thoroughly saturated coffee grounds. These bubbles that pushed so hard to rise to the very top, only to peter out into nonexistence as their end. Hubert thought that was strangely poetic. Beautiful in its own twisted way.

Exactly 1 minute later, after the bubbles died down, he continued adding more water, bringing the total amount of water up to 500 grams. The same, soothing, circular motions. 

“Hubert.”

Hubert nearly dropped the kettle in surprise. He turned, already scowling at who he knew was at his shoulder. “Byleth.” Nobody else in the Black Eagles had been able to sneak up on him so readily, even Petra, for all her skills,or Bernadetta, who often went unnoticed on heists, could avoid his detection. Byleth seemed to be the one person who slipped past his notice with such consistency. It was like she was a blank void where there should be a presence. How she could seemingly turn her presence on and off would be fascinating if she didn’t use it against him.

He hadn’t even realized that she was still around- everyone else had gone out to conduct surveillance on Monica. He sent out the addresses of where she was staying and areas that she frequented based on her phone’s GPS, two nights ago. Oh right, she had taken the overnight shift, making sure that Monica wasn’t slipping out unnoticed by them in the middle of the night and was resting now. (Monica wasn’t.) She looked remarkably well rested for someone who only slept for three hours.

“Do you want something to eat,” it was more of a statement than a question. Her face was curiously impassive. The way that she could turn her expressions on and off again was also fascinating. He wondered briefly if she was an alien- if anyone was an alien, it had to be Caspar, their explosives expert and driver was a whirlwind of contradictions mixed into an explosive whoopee cushion.

“I am quite alright, thanks.” Hubert responded, returning his attention to his coffee. Fortunately, he hadn’t spilled anything. 

“You’ve been locked in your room for quite a while now. I know you’re working hard on Flayn’s case, but you should take care of yourself.” Hubert could hear the fridge opening and closing in the background even though he never heard Byleth move from her spot beside him.

“I have coffee. I’ll be alright.” Hubert began cleaning up his equipment as the last of his coffee began dripping into his cup. The kettle was emptied out and set upside down on the dish rack to dry. Once the last of his precious coffee dripped into his mug, he gathered the filter up with one hand, careful not to spill any of the ground inside and tossed it into the small compost bin that Bernadetta kept for some of the new plants that she bought for her room. The microwave dinged softly, and Hubert found himself face to face with a steaming plate of sauteed fish and the pointed end of a very well maintained, well worn, pocket knife.

He swallowed dryly. His throat bobbed dangerously close to the point of the knife. “What are you doing?”

“Threatening you.” Byleth responded so casually that it really threw him for a loop.

“You do realize how this looks right?” Hubert stared at her. He took a step back, only to find the plate and the knife chasing after him.

“Everybody wants you to eat something. They’re worried. I don’t think they’ll mind how I get you to eat, Hubert.” Byleth countered evenly. “Ferdinand made your favourite dish. He seemed upset when he couldn’t get you to come out to eat it last night, or the night before.” She jerked her head at the kitchen counter, indicating that he should sit at one of the bar stools. 

Slowly, he made his way over to the indicated spot and perched on the stool delicately. Byleth slid the steaming hot plate onto the counter before him. Still watching him, she backed away to retrieve some cutlery. She moved the knife back and forth in the air, miming a throwing motion, as if warning him not to make a run for it. 

A knife and fork were placed before him and Byleth finally settled into the seat next to him with a whetstone, gently sharpening the knife.

Unwilling to get stabbed, Hubert resigned himself to his fate. He didn’t realize how hungry he really was until he tasted the food. Ferdinand had always prided himself on his excellent cooking skills, and this was no exception. He had been sustaining himself on a variety of energy bars he kept in his desk as he worked. Once he was in the zone, he liked to stay in it as long as he possibly could.

“There’s more where there came from. I think everyone’s sick of sauteed fish for a while now so you best eat as much as you want now, I think if Ferdinand makes this another night in a row, Caspar will genuinely punch him.” Byleth’s voice was punctuated with the gentle _shk shk shk_ of the knife against the whetstone.

“How many nights has he made this?” Hubert paled, did he really want to know the answer?

“How many nights have you been cooped up in your room?” Byleth responded testily. 

_Three._

Hubert looked down at his plate, suddenly the weight of Byleth’s gaze was too much to bear. He began to understand what Edelgard meant when, once, in a strange mood, she had informed him that Byleth’s gaze could see right through you and make you see things that you maybe didn’t want to.

“You were angry the other night,” Byleth commented, her words falling into rhythm with the sound of the knife.

“I wasn’t angry,” Hubert said slowly. He knew exactly what Byleth was referring to. “I was irritated.” 

“I’m not judging.” Byleth raised her eyebrows at Hubert and gestured with her knife for him to continue. Hubert knew that she wouldn’t let this drop until she got some kind of answer for him.

“...I just felt irritated... on the group’s behalf.” Hubert relented. He had also been thinking about that moment for a while now, teasing it apart in his own head until he doubted that he felt anything at all. “Everyone was displeased with Monica, I was displeased too. We’re allowed to feel, Byleth.” 

“I know. It was nice- a reminder that you’re human, just like the rest of us. That you need to eat too,” Byleth reminded him, poking at his plate, indicating that he should continue eating.

He coughed, disguising a feeling that he hadn’t felt in a long time, with the motion. He hoped Byleth couldn’t tell. “Nice knife.” He commented hastily, trying to change the subject now. He had never been put on his back foot in a conversation like this before, even with the most silver-tongued of the group. Sure, he wasn’t very good at in person communication- he resided in the virtual world mostly, but usually dark glares and cutting remarks warded away the worst of social interaction. Byleth seemed unfazed by it all. Perhaps whereas most of the group dealt in lies, Byleth was blunt and heavy-handed with her honesty. 

Well, her honesty with _most_ people, Hubert amended. He had seen the way that Byleth and Edelgard danced around each other. He would have to be blind to not see that, as emotionally inept as he was. 

Byleth looked down at the knife, conflicted. “It was my father’s. He gave it to me shortly before he passed away. I like to keep it on me, but I’ve been worried about losing it during a heist.” 

Hubert looked down at her in surprise. He hadn’t expected for her to tell him that. “I’m sorry for your loss.”

Byleth smiled faintly, it didn’t quite reach her eyes. “It’s alright. It’s in the past. I got my closure. I’ve made my peace.” Hubert noticed the way that her fingers tensed around the handle briefly, twirling the knife expertly into a reverse grip as if remembering how it felt to use the knife as a weapon. The blade was as long as the width of his palm, glinting dangerously in the kitchen lighting. The moment passed, the knife returned to its previous position, the sharpening continued. 

Despite that, a feeling of dread settled into Hubert’s stomach. He made a mental note to file this information away for later. He could look into it when he wasn’t working on a job already. 

“Ferdinand really made sauteed fish for dinner three nights in a row?” Hubert asked, picking at his plate. He had polished off the fish quite readily and was sullenly poking at the small pile of green beans on the side.

“Yes. He seemed quite hurt that you wouldn’t come out to eat but I’m sure you know this better than I do- he’s too proud to say anything.” Byleth fixed him with a pointed look. 

Hubert knew exactly what Byleth meant. He could imagine Ferdinand’s incessant pacing between the kitchen and Hubert’s room door, the hovering over his door with a fist, ready to knock, but ultimately at the last moment deciding not to, then sitting through dinner all the while shooting glances at Hubert’s empty seat.

With a tired sighed, Hubert dragged a hand down his face, as if he could simply just wipe away his exhaustion. “I know. Sometimes I think he cares too much.”

Byleth looked at him curiously, “But I think the opposite would be worse. I think not caring at all would be much worse than caring too much.” 

The fork made a horrible screeching noise as Hubert pushed too hard on it, right through a bean. He paused. Was she trying to say something to him? She really should stick to just blunt facts and straightforward words rather than dancing around whatever this is. 

Maybe he should steal a page from her book. “Are you trying to say something to me?” 

She looked at him blankly. “I’ve been talking to you this whole time, Hubert.” 

Hubert nearly growled at her in frustration. “You know very well what I mean.” 

“I think that you thinking that I’m trying to say something to you is very telling in and of itself,” Byleth responded after a while.

How _diplomatic_ of her. It wasn’t that Hubert didn’t care. He just didn’t know what to do with it, how to express it. It was difficult for him, the way that he had been brought up had not exactly been supportive of this kind of behaviour.

The other Eagles made it seem so easy. 

Bernadetta, with her regular gifts of personally created pieces of artwork to brighten moods or spaces. 

Or Linhardt, constantly making sure that their members were doing well health-wise in his low-key, inconspicuous manner. 

Then there was Petra, who was constantly tidying up after the Eagles, a silent guardian against the mess and clutter that the Eagles could easily generate if left unchecked. She and Caspar managed to install some kind of a silencer on the vacuum and sometimes, in the middle of the night, Hubert would leave his room to find Petra running the vacuum meticulously over the rugs. 

He could never aspire to be so open and easygoing with this as Caspar with his simple physical affection, or Dorothea with her gifts of perfectly fitting clothes and accessories, or Ferdinand who refused to let anybody else into the kitchen to cook meals. They gave their care freely and loudly- perhaps even too loudly, Hubert thought. How they made it look so easy, so natural when all Hubert had to offer was a scowl and a glare.

Perhaps Edelgard was the most similar to him. He had known Edelgard the longest, since they were very young and he had followed her from previous ventures into the Black Eagles. But he knew that Edelgard spent many sleepless nights agonizing over heists and jobs and plans by herself in the quiet of her room. He was certain the others knew this too. How she would account for the whims of the group, trying to plan out new heists at the drop of a hat, trying to put on a strong front as the leader of the group. 

Even Byleth, sitting here before him, after she had threatened him with a knife. In her own odd way, Hubert could tell that she cared.

Hubert didn’t respond.

Byleth hummed thoughtfully instead. “I think that you give yourself less credit than you think. Just do what feels right for you.” 

“It’s not that simple,” Hubert muttered, he picked up his coffee and took a sip of it, relishing in the way that the bitter liquid floods his senses.

Byleth laughed, “You’re not the first to tell me that.” She paused in her laughter, studying him, “Is that like a requirement to join the Black Eagles? Do you all over complicate things in your heads?” 

Hubert had no idea where she was going with this. Who else had she had this conversation with? Who else had she talked to? Edelgard? “I should return to work. I’m so close to figuring out how Monica is communicating with her accomplices. I’ve ruled out her phone and normal messaging apps and social media.”

“Maybe one of the others will turn up something physical,” Byleth suggested. She turned over the newly sharpened knife in her hands, examining it. Seemingly satisfied with it, she folded the blade back into the handle. “Oh yeah, one more thing.” Byleth leaned backwards so that the back of her head was pressed against Hubert’s arm.

“What are you-” Hubert started, glowering down at her.

“Say sauteed fish!” Before Hubert could even react, Byleth had taken a selfie of them. She made sure to angle the phone so that Hubert’s plate was in the shot as well. Hubert’s face in the image was the epitome of loathing. He regretted not just giving her a simple flip phone to use instead. “And there!” Hubert’s phone vibrated. The secure messaging app that he had personally designed and coded, lit up. 

Frowning, he opened the app to the deluge of messages in their Black Eagles chat underneath the selfie that Byleth sent.

_Caspar: You got him to EAT!?_

_Petra: when you said you were going to get him to eat I did not think that you could actually do it i am sorry for not believing you_

_Linhardt: tell him to drink more water, not just coffee_

_Caspar: tell him to SLEEP!_

_Dorothea: I’m impressed Byleth, how did you do it?_

_Byleth: i threatened him_

_Bernadetta: Ferdinand does that all the time I didn’t think that worked_

_Byleth: i had a knife_

The chat fell silent, unsure of what to do with this new information.

Hubert’s phone vibrated again, but it wasn’t the group chat. A private message. Ferdinand. Hubert opened it. 

_Ferdinand: How was the fish?_

Hubert stared at his screen for a long time, ignoring Byleth for the time being. 

_Delicious, thank you._ He typed out, then immediately deleted it. 

_I ate all of it._

No, that made him sound almost sarcastic, rude. He deleted that too. 

For someone who claimed that the virtual world was his home, this virtual communication thing was awfully difficult.

Byleth’s earlier words echoed in his head. _Just do what feels right for you._

He looked up to the spot beside him. It was empty, she had wandered off again, like a ghost of some sort, appearing and disappearing whenever it was convenient for her. Quickly, he typed out the message, and sent it off before he could change his mind. Last thing he wanted was for Ferdinand to get worried with ideas about why it was taking so long for him to reply when he clearly read the message.

_Hubert: Next time you can just bring it into my room._

The group chat vibrated again with a notification.

_Edelgard: Byleth we are going to need to have a talk about this_

* * *

“Do you think Hubert looks better now?” Byleth asked offhandedly. She ducked under Edelgard’s right hook and brought her arms in time to block the front kick that followed it.

“Are we referring to the fact that you threatened him with a knife?” Edelgard huffed, she continued on the offensive. 

Byleth had come knocking on Edelgard’s room door late in the afternoon, asking for a fight. By the look that Edelgard gave her, knocking on someone’s door and going ‘Hey, wanna fight?’ was not entirely appropriate. 

Caspar and Linhardt were staking out Monica around the time right now, leaving much of the rest of the Black Eagles with some time off. Originally, she thought Edelgard would let her down gently, asking for a rain check or flat out shutting her down. But Edelgard carefully closed her laptop, and brought out a change of gym clothes.

“No?” Byleth deflected another one of Edelgard’s blows, and knocked her hand away. She swept a leg low, trying to trip Edelgard while she was still extended but the other woman saw through that and leapt nimbly over the sweep and into Byleth’s midsection.

Byleth grunted under the force of the impact, staggering backwards a few steps. Something about that movement felt strangely familiar to her. But it was a general movement, she decided, her brain was just being paranoid. Frowning, she let that feeling go, and refocused herself on the fight. She let herself fall backwards instead of trying to resist Edelgard’s moment- something that Edelgard wasn’t expecting, if Edelgard’s sudden yelp of surprise told her anything, Quickly, she rolled out of Edelgard’s grasp before she could get her bearings back.

Edelgard huffed as she stood back up, dusting her pants off. “Yes. He does look better. Less tense.” She paused as if she was going to say something else and then decided better of it. “He’ll work through it.” 

“I have no doubts about his capabilities,” Byleth responded. She had to admit, even in those leggings and white long sleeved shirt, Edelgard looked really good. The athletic wear clung to her form, damp with sweat. But she couldn’t afford to be distracted like this. Edelgard could easily slam her into the mats if she let her guard down. 

She rushed forward on the offensive this time, feinting to the right before driving her left knee upwards. Edelgard sidestepped her rush, deflecting her knee with a palm strike to the inside of her leg. If they weren’t sparring and Edelgard wasn’t holding back, Byleth was sure her leg would be tingly for a long time. “I’m just worried he’ll burn out.” 

“I know.” Edelgard sighed. “Hubert’s motto is ‘If you want it done right, you have to do it yourself’ Maybe I’ll see if we can’t get him to start taking more breaks. Set a timer or something so that he has to take a break every time the timer goes off.” She mimicked Byleth’s earlier movement, feinting to the right as well. 

Byleth could see her punches coming from a mile away. A strangely familiar dance. Left hook followed by a feint and a quick right jab to her solar plexus. She caught both Edelgard’s fists, one in each hand, and her brain was screaming at her that she had to get a knee up and block the dropkick that was coming. Suddenly the room was closing in too fast and her muscles were made of jelly and none of her limbs were even responding and she could hear her heart pounding in her ears and there was a pain in her chest and she couldn’t get enough air into her lungs.

Next thing she knew, Edelgard was hovering over her as she lay flat on her back on the training mats. “Byleth? Byleth, are you okay?” 

Byleth stared up at those lilac eyes, wide-eyed, chest heaving like she had just run a marathon.

“I need you to breathe with me Byleth. Breathe in,” Edelgard took an exaggerated breath in, nodding encouragingly at her when she followed suit, “and out.” 

Byleth could feel the warmth of Edelgard’s breath as she breathed out in the same exaggerated manner. They repeated this a few more times as Edelgard gently rubbed Byleth’s arms, as if trying to warm her up. “Okay. You okay, Byleth?” Her voice was gentle, she kept the rubbing motion up and Byleth found that the sensation helped ground her to reality.

Another breath in and then out. It took Byleth a moment before she could nod in response. 

“I’m going to call Linhardt back,” Edelgard decided, getting up to go retrieve her phone from the side of the room where they had left their things.

Byleth grabbed Edelgard’s hand and pulled her back towards the floor. “No, it's fine. He’s busy right now. I’ll be fine. I’m just tired.”

Edelgard pursed her lips, clearly not liking this whole situation.

“I’m fine, really.” Byleth insisted. “Can you just sit with me for a minute? I just need a moment.” Finally, Edelgard relented and sat down next to Byleth. She kept her hand in hers, gently rubbing soothing circles over Byleth’s knuckles with her thumb.

It took a few more minutes of just sitting there, hand in hand, before Byleth felt confident enough to ask the question that was plaguing her already buzzing mind. “So where did you learn to fight like that?” Her brain really was being paranoid.

Edelgard looked over at her in surprise. Of all the questions, she evidently didn’t expect this one. “From here and there. You know, it’s mostly self-taught and just constant practice, seeing what works for me.” She seemed guarded.

Byleth nodded, there wasn’t any particular school of fighting that Edelgard followed, seemingly borrowing different techniques from all kinds of different places. Even so, something about that last series of blows that they exchanged unnerved Byleth. It was probably a coincidence, they were all general movements that were perfectly valid and could be used in any combination that suited Edelgard. A lot of people could fight like this. 

Besides, Edelgard didn’t even follow up the punches with the drop kick. _Not that she had the chance to._ Byleth was certain that Edelgard had honed in on her sudden change in posture and didn’t follow through with destroying her ribs.

“You okay, Byleth?” Edelgard asked again. “I’m sure Linhardt wouldn’t mind. I think he’d rather check it now before it happens again in the field.” 

Byleth shook her head vehemently. “No. I’m just tired. I’ll be fine after I shower and sleep.” 

“Okay.” Edelgard said. She helped Byleth to her feet. Byleth could still feel the weakness in her muscles, but she managed to stay on her feet. It was a slow walk back to her room, Edelgard hovering at her side, touching but not quite touching her, wanting to be close by if anything did happen again.

They made it to Byleth’s bed, and Byleth flopped backwards onto the bed. Groaning, as she bounced a few times. She’d definitely have to take it easy for the next while. Suddenly, she snapped back into a sitting position, wincing at the motion.

“Easy, easy.” Edelgard was at her side immediately. “Drink this.” She pressed a bottle of water into Byleth’s hands.

Byleth cast her eyes around the room, panicked, she couldn’t remember if she had put her stuff- her eyes landed on her mostly empty duffel bag, sitting on her desk, still zipped up. Her shoulders sagged in relief. Past-Byleth was clearly smarter than present-Byleth. 

“Byleth? Are you sure you don’t want me to call Linhardt?” Edelgard said slowly. Her brows were furrowed in concern. 

Byleth took a sip of water, not realizing how dry her mouth was until now. “I’m okay, really. I just overexerted myself. I think I’m just going to sleep and things will be fine in the morning.” 

Edelgard scrutinized her face closely, and Byleth took a few more sips of water, trying her best not to think about how close Edelgard was and hoping Edelgard wouldn’t call Linhardt.

“I’m going to leave my room door open. And I’ll leave yours open just a crack, so you can just call out and I’ll be able to hear you if you need anything, okay?” 

Byleth nodded. She knew that Edelgard was drawing the line in the sand here, she wouldn’t be able to get out of this one.

Edelgard gave her one last long look before getting up and leaving the room. Byleth sipped at the rest of the water until it was mostly empty before putting it on her bedside table and let herself fall backwards into the bed. Her stomach twisted uncomfortably. There was something wrong. Something wasn’t adding up. Maybe she should make some calls. 

_Later_. 

She could call later. Now alone, it was like her body suddenly decided to really feel all the exhaustion that she knew was already creeping in. It was all she could do to pull herself into the bathroom connected to her room and stand under the spray of water, set at a temperature just a hair hotter than she could stand, hoping that the sensation would ground her. It did. Sort of. The echoing sound of the shower did nothing to soothe her brain, running away from her at light speed.

Everything beyond that was hazy. She knew she got dressed and then threw herself into bed, feet sticking off the side awkwardly- the world fading to black the second she hit the soft sheets.

When she woke up the next morning, she found herself tucked properly into bed, with a new bottle of water on her bedside table. The room smelled strangely like coffee.

* * *

  
  


Hubert had just finished dropping off some files to Edelgard when he caught a glimpse into Byleth’s room. It was open just a little bit- usually she kept it closed, especially at night when everyone would retire to their rooms.

It was nearly three in the morning. Edelgard had told him to bring the files whenever he was finished and that she was going to be working well into the night. He had knocked gently on her door, careful not to disturb anyone else. There was no answer. He knocked again, a little bit louder. Silence.

Cautiously, he opened her door and peered in. She was asleep at her desk. A long line of key-smashes on her screen as a result of her hands pressing into the keys as she slept. Carefully, he powered off her desktop and placed the file that she requested on her desk, just out of her reach so that she wouldn’t knock it to the ground when she woke up. He gathered the soft throw from her bed and draped it gently over her shoulders. He turned off the desk lamp with a soft click and quietly retreated from the room.

_Just doing what feels right for me._

Now he stood in the doorway of Byleth’s room. 

He had heard that she hadn’t been feeling well when she and Edelgard were sparring that afternoon and wanted to sleep it off. She had taken more graveyard shifts watching Monica than anyone else. Not everyone liked to burn the midnight oil like he did, he supposed.

He audibly sighed when he saw Byleth face-down in the covers, halfway off of the side of the bed. He suspected the only reason Edelgard had decided to pull the all-nighter tonight was so that she would be awake in case their newest member needed anything.

Silently, he walked into the room and looked down at the sleeping form. “She’s worried about you, you know.” 

“She’s worried about you too,” was the muffled response.

Hubert froze. Was he hearing things? Was Byleth awake? Would she wake up and look at him, looking down at her like some kind of a creeper? 

He waited a moment. And then another. Nearly five minutes went by, punctuated by her slow and rhythmic breathing. “Byleth, if you are really awake and are pretending to be asleep, I am going to go get Edelgard and tell her that you were talking about her in your sleep.” 

No response. He was certain that she would have responded to that if she was really awake. He was safe. She was really just talking in her sleep.

 _Just do what feels right for me._

He was surprising himself today. With a sigh, Hubert lifted Byleth’s legs the rest of the way into the bed. It took some maneuvering, and starting and stopping so that he didn’t wake her, but he eventually got her tucked under the covers. It was an understatement when Edelgard said that Byleth was not doing well. Byleth looked pretty terrible. Exhausted.

In the little bit of light streaming in through the open door, Hubert saw the nearly empty water bottle on the bedside table. He made his way to the kitchen, where he grabbed a new bottle from the fridge and replaced the empty on Byleth’s bedside table.

He stood there in the dark room for a beat longer, suddenly feeling very awkward. “Next time, I’m waking up Edelgard for this.“

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The perspective matches the chapter title! Yay.
> 
> (Does Hubert make coffee the same way that I do? Yes.)
> 
> Less movement on the heist this chapter but some fun bonding between some dorks and a little bit of Ferdibert and Hubert slowly figuring himself out. :)
> 
> Thank you for all the kind comments and kudos and reading! Stay safe- see y'all next time


	6. Dorothea

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Byleth has a weird plan. Dorothea and Edelgard catch up and also get dates?
> 
> Some references to a past Ingrid x Dorothea relationship and a little bit of past-ish Edelgard x Dorothea?

“I’ve figured out how they’re communicating.” Hubert announced, storming out of his room with enough flair to rival Ferdinand. His door protested the force of his movements with a low creak.

Everyone was gathered in the common area, resting off a large dinner, courtesy of Ferdinand again. Byleth was the only one who was currently missing, out staking out Monica’s apartment. Edelgard was in the middle of packing up some of the leftovers in a large tupperware container- presumably for Byleth

“Oh?” Edelgard said, eyebrows raised faintly.

Hubert tapped a few buttons on his phone and the screen across the room lit up. “They’ve been using this email account that I originally thought Monica was using for spam.” Everyone nodded collectively at the familiar image of an email inbox with 39467 unread emails, all of them promotional.

Ferdinand visibly winced at the sight, “And I thought she was a monster before, this is so much worse.”

“This is nothing! I’ve got at least double that,” Caspar bragged, folding his arms across his chest proudly. “Tell him, Lin!” 

Linhardt resolutely shook his head, refusing to get involved in this incident.

“Me too,” Bernadetta added quietly from her corner. She was busy repotting some plants, newspapers spread across the floor to catch the soil.

“Heathens! You’re all heathens! I would never let my inbox get to such a sorry state.” For a moment, it felt like Ferdinand would actually keel over in indignation. He sat down heavily in his favourite armchair. 

“You were saying about the inbox, Hubert,” Edelgard interjected before this conversation could get any more derailed.

“They’re using the same account, and leaving messages in the drafts folder for each other knowing that the drafts will overwrite each other.” He gestured to the aforementioned folder- there were 13 items in that folder. “12 of those items are nonsense. The last is the message thread that we are interested in.”

“If the drafts are having overwrite, how will we know what they are having said?” Petra examined the email inbox closely. It really did seem like an amalgamation of spam from many different companies.

“I’ll spare you the technicalities, but I have restored them,” another press of a button on his phone and a message thread appeared.

“Who in the world messages like this?” Dorothea asked incredulously. The group fell silent as they read over the messages. There were a lot of emojis and strange slang- fortunately, Hubert had taken the liberty of translating some of the nonsensical terms.

A phone rang. Edelgard answered it, and after a moment, put it on speaker phone. 

_“So it seems that Monica hasn’t gotten rid of the lure, she has it somewhere safe. She’s being paid five hundred thousand dollars upon delivery.”_ Byleth’s tinny voice resounded from the speaker. Hubert had taken the liberty of sending Byleth the message thread as well. 

“Whoever had her steal the lure wants to make the trade soon but Monica is resisting. They definitely sound angry. No signature,” Dorothea noted. She leaned back in her seat, pressing her back against Petra’s shoulder. She was thinking.

“Monica keeps mentioning that there’s still too much heat for her to retrieve the lure,” Ferdinand said, he looked quizzical. “But it’s been a little while since the lure went missing. The authorities have no leads, she has a cop in her pocket- what heat could there possibly be? We’re fairly certain that at this point, we’re the only ones tailing her.”

“If cops are having followed her, I would definitely be having notice,” Petra nodded in agreement. Cops stuck out like a sore thumb when they were trying to follow someone discreetly.

 _“She’s not talking about her person, she’s talking about wherever she stashed the lure. She can’t retrieve it without arousing suspicion for some reason.”_ The group fell silent as they let that sink in for a moment.

“But she didn’t arouse any suspicion when she put the lure there.” Edelgard said slowly. “So we just have to look for places that gained police attention from when the lure was stolen and now, and still has police attention.” 

“That feels like that shouldn’t be that big of a list,” Hubert muttered to himself. 

* * *

  
  


“That’s quite the list,” Caspar whistled as Hubert laid out a map on the coffee table. Almost a dozen locations were circled in different colours.

“I’ve added a few spots that could be a possibility, but are unlikely. But we’re clearly much better thieves than Monica so just because we think it’s a bad choice, doesn’t mean she wouldn’t pick it. Also it’s hard to tell what Monica thinks is ‘heat’.” Hubert put his finger down on a few different spots. A new diner that opened that was frequented by cops, a new precinct building that had opened last week, a bar that the after work drinks were popular at now that the usual bar had closed for renovations.

“And you’ve cross referenced these places with Monica’s history and her recent movements around the city? I doubt she’ll just pick any old bar to hide the lure in,” Edelgard frowned, chewing her lip.

“It’s this one,” Byleth spoke out suddenly. She circled a spot near the shoreline with her finger. Hubert had also highlighted it in red.

“W-what is that?” Bernadetta peered over the coffee table, she was clutching a bunch of drawings to her chest.

Linhardt groaned, “It’s the amusement park.” 

“Why are there cops at the amusement park?” Dorothea asked, confused.

Byleth answered that by pulling up an article on her phone and handing it to Dorothea.

“Derdriu police think bomb threats are a hoax but will triple patrols at Derdriu Island Amusement Park.” Dorothea read out loud. “No park closures foreseen.”

“Well at least this way, if we need to, we can keep calling in these fake threats to prevent her from accessing the lure.” LInhardt yawned. 

“Why are you having thoughts that she is having hidden the lure here?” Petra asked, examining the map more closely. The park covered a large area on the map and contained a multitude of structures, buildings, entrances and exits. Not to mention the sheer amount of people that would be present on any given day.

“She frequents this area quite often, every time she’s returning home, she makes a detour out this way even though it's not convenient for her. How many times in the last week has she just sat at this cafe and just stared off into the distance?” Byleth circled a small cafe directly across the street from the amusement park.

“She wasn’t staring at nothing! She was staking out the park!” Caspar exclaimed, suddenly giddy with their newfound discovery. “You’re a genius, Byleth!”

Byleth frowned, seemingly lost in her thoughts and not having heard Caspar. “Even if she’s hesitant to go retrieve the lure now, I think sooner or later, she’s just going to take the chance and try to get it anyway. I don’t think whoever put her up to this wants to wait too much longer.” 

Edelgard studied Byleth’s expression carefully. Even though it had been a few days since her incident while they were sparring, Edelgard was still being cautious. For the most part, it seemed like everything was back to normal and Byleth seemed like she really just needed to sleep it off, but something felt different, Edelgard just didn’t know what. 

“This also means that the lure isn’t in one of those rental lockers at the park. Otherwise she could just waltz in, pick up the lure, and waltz out without arousing any suspicion. She had to have put it somewhere safe there and somewhere that would look too suspicious for her to be accessing it now.” Edelgard sighed, she sat back on her haunches for a moment. 

“She used to spend summers here in Derdriu with her family and worked part time at the amusement park. So there has to be tons of places in the amusement park that she could hide the lure in that we wouldn’t know about.” Hubert grimaced, things were never as easy as they wanted.

“We can either try to take some of the heat off of the amusement park and just wait for her to retrieve it, or we can force her hand and make her retrieve it early.” Byleth hummed softly, the gears were spinning wildly in her head. There was a moment, a spark, as something clicked into place, Byleth smiled. Her small, mysterious smile, “I have an idea. I’ll need a dead Flayn, a hospital, and most importantly, Linhardt.”

* * *

It took some convincing, but eventually, the Eagles settled on a version of Byleth’s idea that everyone could agree to. It was very strange, and very unorthodox, and harboured around the fact that Monica was an amateur thief who wasn’t nearly as savvy as they were, sent out by somebody to do their bidding- somebody who wanted to maintain some distance from the crime.

And so here Edelgard was, standing with Dorothea, before a grand theatre in the middle of Derdriu. Dorothea looked up at the large building, eyes hard, mouth pulled into a taut line. It was hard to tell with Dorothea, but she seemed a little bit distant lately- off in her head somewhere. Drawing herself up to her full height, she squared her shoulders and strode forward. There was a faint tremble in her fingers as she reached back for Edelgard’s arm. She tugged Edelgard forward, into the opulent building. At this time of day, the theatre was largely empty. The faint echoes of a rehearsal resounded across the space.

Dorothea kept pressing forward, past the ticket counters, past the general lobby area, and into the proper theatre. Like if she paused at all she wouldn’t ever be able to move forward. Edelgard had been here before, not in this capacity though. She doesn’t even remember the name of the play she even attended. But Dorothea had theatre connections, she used to moonlight as a stage actor before she joined the Black Eagles full time after all. This theatre was different. Special. Edelgard didn’t know the whole story, but she knew that this place cut deep for Dorothea.

They hovered at the top of the rows of seats, watching the various actors work on the stage below them. The actors were in their everyday clothes, running lines and working on their blocking. The scene started and stopped and rewound and restarted, never quite right. They made no move toward the stage though. 

Dorothea’s eyes were glued to the scene before them, taking it in without blinking, like if she blinked, it would be gone. Her love for the fine arts had never faded- that was for sure. Edelgard caught her asking Hubert to get her tickets for all manners of concerts, plays, and shows many times now. But being here, in this theatre, right now, something was different. Edelgard wondered if Dorothea ever regretted joining the Black Eagles.

“Do you miss it?” Edelgard found herself asking.

Dorothea breathed out softly, “No.”

“You don’t have to say that to make me feel better, I understand, you know. You had a different life before the Black Eagles.” Edelgard murmured, below, an actor drew his sword, pointing it at the two other actors on the stage. One of the women flung herself before the other woman, armed with a small chair.

“I don’t know if that was a life I would have ever been truly happy in, Edie.” Dorothea said softly. “I was a nobody. I had not a penny to my name. When Manuela and her troupe took me in, I thought that I hit the jackpot. But it wasn’t. Don’t get me wrong, I am eternally grateful Manuela taught me everything she knew but it wasn’t what I really wanted.” She took a deep breath, looking around at her surroundings, almost like she was cataloguing the changes that had occurred while she was away.

“I worked myself to the bone, turning her craft into my own. All I ever wanted was to be wanted, was to belong somewhere. I never wanted to have nothing again, to be nothing. And I once thought that I could find that in the theatre- in the bright lights and brilliant applause. I thought that I would finally be noticed by the right casting director or producer and whirled away into a glittering fantasy where I’d never have to worry about where my next meal came from. But that wasn’t true.” Her gaze was still fixed on the stage below them but there was a dreamy, far off quality to it. Like she was seeing something else on the stage, some time else.

Edelgard debated on whether she should reach out and put a hand on Dorothea’s arm. Whether that gesture would be comforting, or appropriate. She didn’t want to make Dorothea uncomfortable. Dorothea clearly had a lot of feelings for the theatre, and her past. She dropped her arm to her side, fist clenched tightly instead. They had danced around this conversation before but being here in this building seemed to make Dorothea more vulnerable.

“Instead I threw myself into relationships, perhaps that's what I needed. _Love._ That’s what it's all about right? I tried people of all shapes, sizes, colours, and genders, I waited and waited and waited for the right person to sweep me off of my feet. But I never found it, I never found what I was looking for.”

“What were you looking for?” Edelgard asked even though she was a little bit afraid to hear Dorothea’s answer. In this moment, Dorothea looked like she was hundreds of years older, world weary and soul exhausted.

“I don’t know,” Dorothea responded after a long moment. “I thought I knew. But when I thought I had it, I just knew that what I had wasn’t it.” Edelgard had never seen her look so defeated.

“Ingrid wasn’t what you were looking for either then?”

“What about Ingrid?” Dorothea looked surprised at the mention of Ingrid. 

“She’s your ex, an ex you are still very fond of and I mean we had a run in with her not that long ago. I’m sorry that I didn’t get a good chance until now, but I figured I’d check in with you about Ingrid at some point.” Edelgard shrugged. She didn’t know everyone in Dorothea’s dating history, but she knew the highlights.

“Seeing her from across the street while we were working isn’t exactly running into her. And yes, I will admit, Ingrid was everything a girl could’ve dreamed of. Gentle, noble, bright- the picture of a knight in shining armour. She just wasn’t what this girl-” Dorothea jerked a thumb at herself, “-wanted. Besides, our paths were diverging. There was no reconciling that. I was never going to walk the straight and narrow- not that Ingrid is exactly straight.”

Edelgard let the corners of her mouth quirk upwards in a smile Dorothea’s joke.

“But I was never going to convince Ingrid to join the dark side. We cited it as irreconcilable differences and parted ways. I really thought she was what I wanted, what I needed.” 

“And?” Edelgard prompted.

Dorothea smiled at her ruefully, “She wasn’t.”

“And the Black Eagles?” the question was out of her mouth before she could even help herself. She just _had_ to ask.

Dorothea broke out of her thoughts long enough to shoot a smirk at Edelgard. “Don’t worry. I don’t plan on leaving the Black Eagles. I’m quite happy here. After all, I was waiting for someone to sweep me off of my feet and take me away to a fantastical life where I’m needed, and you’ve done both.”

Edelgard looked away at that, she knew that there was a blush dusting her cheeks. She really ought to be used to this by now, Dorothea used to flirt with her mercilessly when they first met, just to get a rise out of her. But now, this seemed different, it seemed heartfelt.

But even so, Dorothea didn’t really answer Edelgard’s unspoken question. 

_Did she find what she was looking for in the Black Eagles?_

Before either of them could continue, a voice shouting from the stage interrupted them.

“Is that who I think it is?” The tall imposing woman sitting in the front row had turned around. Her long white dress hugged her generous curves, the fabric shimmered gently in the theatre's house lights. One of the actors on stage had caught sight of them and had brought them to her attention.

Dorothea waggled her fingers at the other woman with a smile, “I told you I’d be stopping by again, Manuela.” Dorothea stepped forward, gesturing for Edelgard to follow along.

“I know you and I know that you don’t like this building. I would have met you somewhere more comfortable for you.” Manuela returned the smile. They met halfway and slid into a row of seats in the center. Below them, the rehearsal continued on.

“I’m all grown up now,” Dorothea replied in a mockingly innocent fashion. It reminded Edelgard of a child petulantly stomping their foot and saying those same words in a tantrum. “Besides, we’re on a tight timeline here.”

“Manuela,” Edelgard nodded politely in greeting. Edelgard had many encounters with Manuela in the past. Including a lengthy _interrogation_ that felt akin to an overbearing parent interrogating their only child’s new partner that they had just brought home. Manuela insisted on meeting the leader of the group that her beloved protege was joining- so she knew whose head to mount on a pike if they ever burned Dorothea.

But things worked out well enough.

“Are you taking care of my darling student, Edelgard?” Manuela smirked at Edelgard over the top of Dorothea’s head. There was an almost predatory look in the older woman’s eyes, the knowledge that she wouldn’t hesitate to crush Edelgard beneath her very sharp, very tall, stiletto heel if Dorothea so much as felt uncomfortable with the Black Eagles.

Fortunately for Edelgard, Dorothea cut in with a hand laid gently on Manuela’s shoulder. “Manuela, please.”

Manuela huffed, slightly annoyed that Dorothea had ended her game early. “Fine, fine. What do I owe for the pleasure of this visit?”

“I know you recently finished shooting a new movie,” Dorothea began, she ignored the growing smile on Manuela’s face. “I know you still have those sets left over. We’re wondering if we can borrow one of them.” 

Manuela sighed, “And here I was thinking you were asking for tickets for the premiere or a sneak peek of the movie. You’re always working.” She studied them for a long moment. “Fine!” From her ample cleavage, she pulled a cell phone out. The bedazzled case glittered in the light. Edelgard wondered if it hurt to have the cell phone tucked away like that with all those little rhinestones. She shuddered, she’d rather not think about that sensation. “I can arrange for you to have a set, but you’ll have to find some other place to set the whole thing up. Which one do you want?”

“The hospital.” Dorothea replied firmly.

Manuela narrowed her eyes at them, “Do I want to know?”

“Nope!” Dorothea replied brightly, popping the ‘p’ in the word loudly. 

“You can have it. But I have conditions.” 

It was Edelgard’s turn to narrow her eyes at Manuela.

“You’re all working too hard. You should take some time off! You’re in Derdriu, relax a little. I have here a reservation for two at my favourite restaurant. It’s all paid for. It's my personal table.” Manuela pulled out a business card with her signature on it from the deep V of her dress again.

Dorothea and Edelgard both stared at it. “What?”

Manuela pressed the card into Dorothea’s hand. “Go on a date. Have some fun. Let your hair down. Who knows, it might actually be good for you to not do something not work related with each other.”

They both stared at her blankly. “A date?” Edelgard repeated. She looked at Dorothea.

Dorothea met her stare with her own look of incredulousness. “I-I’m not, w-we’re not dating,” Dorothea finally managed to get out.

“So you aren’t just bringing Edelgard with you to see me today because you wanted to bring your girlfriend to meet the parents?” Manuela asked, incredulous.

Dorothea shook her head, “I brought Edie so you would know that I was being serious! So that you would understand that this was actual work and not because I wanted to fool around in a hospital setting!”

They all stared at each other now. An awkward silence settled over them like the heavy fabric of the theatre curtains. 

Manuela reached into her dress a third time. It was a little bit like a magician pulling countless scarves out of a hat. With a deft motion, she flicked another business card at Edelgard, who plucked it out of the air. It matched the one in Dorothea’s hand.

“Well, take somebody else out then. I don’t care who. Go have a fun time. It’s been years, Dorothea. And don’t even think about not doing it. I will crush you, both of you.” Manuela closed her fist slowly, one finger at a time, she smiled, but it was more like baring her teeth. Edelgard swallowed dryly. Manuela was terrifying when she wanted to be. 

“I was right to retire when I did. You are all so tiring. I’ll text you with the details for the set, Dorothea.” Manuela got out of the chair languidly. She waved over her shoulder and wandered back down the rehearsal, not sparing them a second look.

Edelgard leaned back in the uncomfortable theatre seat. She had forgotten what a presence Manuela was. It was a miracle that she had survived her first personal encounter with the woman. 

“Well, we got Byleth’s hospital.” Dorothea got out of the seat, her spine popping in protest of the motion.

“We also got dates?” Edelgard asked, very confused. Manuela meddled in the strangest ways. Edelgard wasn’t sure if Manuela was well-meaning or not.

“I’m sorry. I don’t know what to do about this. But Manuela never put a time limit on it, so I’m sure we can use them much later.” Dorothea sighed and tucked the business card into the back of her phone case.

“Are you alright Dorothea?” Edelgard grabbed Dorothea’s hand before she could walk off.

Dorothea stared at a spot above Edelgard’s head for a long moment. Edelgard knew she was getting her thoughts together, “Yeah. I’m really sorry about earlier. For me to say all that stuff and then for Manuela to insinuate that we were dating, I don’t want you thinking that I’m trying to make a move or anything.”

“Yeah,” Edelgard trailed off thoughtfully. It wasn’t that Dorothea was unattractive or anything. But, this wasn’t it. This wasn’t what Edelgard wanted.

“And perhaps when we first met, I would have-” Dorothea was rambling now. In a state of sudden nervousness that Edelgard had never seen before.

“Dorothea, please. Breathe. I’m not upset at you or anything that happened here. We both know that we never would have made it to this day if we dated when we first met. I was not in the right mindset for a relationship when we first met and you still saw yourself as my insubordinate back then. We would have torn each other apart. And no offense, Dorothea. I much prefer what we have now.” Edelgard wrinkled her nose at the thought of her and Dorothea romantically involved. It was like imagining herself dating Hubert. She just couldn’t quite wrap her mind around it.

Dorothea was the first member of the Black Eagles that Edelgard recruited- she didn’t count Hubert who had been at her side since they were children. As much as Edelgard loathed to admit it, she and Dorothea were quite close, not just because they knew each other for so long now. Something in Dorothea’s upbeat personality tempered Edelgard’s. She might be all glitz and glamour on the outside, but Dorothea was shrewd and practical- especially when it came to people. Well, most people. Edelgard could think of a certain thief that Dorothea always seemed to hit a wall with.

She also remembered the insecurity and the lashing out when they brought Ferdinand on later. The two of them butted heads constantly, Dorothea always trying to correct Ferdinand or outmaneuver him. Edelgard could never understand why back then but she understood it now. 

It would have felt like the Black Eagles were replacing Dorothea with Ferdinand. It wasn’t true of course, but to Dorothea, this was her deepest fear. She set out to prove to the Eagles that she was better than Ferdinand, that Ferdinand would never hold a candle to her skills. But time spent together and near death situations seemed to assuage any fears and doubts Dorothea had without any intentional involvement on Edelgard’s part. They weren’t the same as they were when they first started.

Though Dorothea and Ferdinand kept that competitive dynamic up to a certain extent even now, but Edelgard knew that it had lost that hurtful edge to it. It was all light smiles and playful banter now. They were sharpening themselves against each other. Edelgard thought that maybe, Dorothea was even glad to have Ferdinand around- they were alike in many ways, not just in the skills they brought to the group, but there was a subtle sense of kinship between the two. An understanding of what it meant to play the roles and games that they did.

“Are you still afraid we don’t want you?” Edelgard asked. If they were dealing with the difficult topics today, she might as well get it all out into the open.

The look in Dorothea’s eyes softened. “No, I don’t doubt my place with the Black Eagles.” She looked at Edelgard fondly. “What would you do without me to guide you?” There was a beat. She dropped her voice conspiratorially, “And to dress your Byleth in those delicious leathers I know you like so much.” Dorothea smirked again, tossing her hair over her shoulder with dramatic flair befitting of her. 

  
Edelgard sputtered, “M-my Byleth?” 

“Yes yours. Everyone knows you’ve practically staked a claim on her. I know how you look at her. Don’t tell me you’re not ready for a relationship now!” Dorothea tutted disapprovingly, waving her finger in Edelgard’s face. “As your best friend, and second in command, I am commanding you to put Manuela’s business card to good use. Now come along, if you keep holding my hand like this, I’m going to have to start charging you.” 

“What about yourself, Dorothea. I know you have your eye on someone,” Edelgard shot back, letting Dorothea pull her to her feet.

Dorothea laughed, eyes twinkling. “I have no idea who you could possibly mean, Edie.” 

Edelgard stared at the business card still clutched in her hand one last time before putting it away. She wondered if she would ever have the courage to use it.

* * *

“That looks like it itches,” Caspar remarked. He stood over Linhardt’s shoulder, peering down at Linhardt’s work. Even for someone as high energy as him, he looked tired. He had been working overtime for the last week getting the hospital set from Manuela ready. The other members had helped out where they could, but Caspar oversaw the construction and ensured everything was functional while Bernadetta and Linhardt dealt with appearances and finer details.

Currently they were working in the common room. Dorothea was leaned back against the side of the couch, her head tipped back so that Linhardt and Bernadetta had free access to her face and neck. A tousled green wig covered her own brown locks, and similarly shaded green contacts lightened her own green eyes. An ill fitting blue hospital gown was draped over her form, making her look much more fragile than she really was.

“That’s the point,” Linhardt responded, not looking up from his work. Ferdinand had been by earlier to help Dorothea with a base layer of foundation, giving her a sickly pale pallor. Now with the magic of make up- although Linhardt swore that some of the stuff Bernadetta was working with was actually just her painting supplies, Dorothea looked like a very sickly Flayn.

“I mean from up close, you don’t look like an exact match, but the makeup is distracting enough that this is very believable.” Edelgard examined Dorothea from the other side of the couch. Linhardt had done a remarkable job with the faint red splotches that dotted Dorothea’s face and neck, they looked very painful and itchy- Edelgard resisted the itch to scratch her own arm in response.

“Well, Monica won’t be seeing her up close. We’ll keep enough of a distance between them,” Byleth reminded them.

“I can’t wait to just sleep on the job,” Dorothea murmured from below Linhardt and Berndatta’s busy hands. “That’s my dream role.”

“I’m ready, Linhardt!” Ferdinand announced with a flourish. He emerged from his own room, his eyes looked sunken, face gaunt and pale. He waggled his eyebrows at the group gathered before them. He too was dressed in a blue hospital gown. 

“I’m going to take this as my cue to do one last check of our hospital.” Edelgard made her way to the stairs, grabbing her keys and phone from the kitchen counter as she went.

“O-oh! I nearly forgot!” Bernadetta scrambled after her, a little parcel wrapped in brown paper in her hands. “I finished it last night. I hope it holds up.” 

Edelgard looked down at the parcel in surprise. Bernadetta never failed to impress her. “Thank you. Now Byleth, Caspar, you coming? It’s showtime.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly, Dorothea's scene here wrote itself. I never intended for it to get that long or go in that direction but once I started writing it just took off. I enjoyed her and Edelgard's interactions a lot. Their dynamic is a lot of fun. 
> 
> But things are really moving along now! 
> 
> As always. You have my endless gratitude for all the kind words and comments. Thank you for reading. 
> 
> Stay safe! I'll see you next week :)


	7. Edelgard II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Byleth's weird hospital ploy is finally put to the test.
> 
> Monica makes a terrible thief and also there's a terrible surprise.

Edelgard watched as Monica walked down the street. It was a bright, sunny day out. Currently still work hours in Derdriu, just in between lunch and the afternoon rush hour. Not many people out on the streets. She sat on a nearby bench, in nurses’ scrubs, pretending to be engrossed in her phone as Monica passed just in front of her.

_ “Any minute now,”  _ Linhardt’s voice came through the coms softly. He was monitoring Monica’s condition from afar. 

_ “Are we sure we got the stuff into her cup and not somebody else’s?”  _ Caspar questioned. He was getting antsy, Edelgard could tell. He was never good at the waiting part of the job.

_ “I am having no doubts about having placed the drug into Monica’s cup.”  _ Petra almost sounded offended. It was a simple matter for Petra to add some of Linhardt’s special concoction to Monica’s regular coffee at the coffee shop across the street from Derdriu Island amusement park. A much lower slow-acting dose than what was in the tranquilizers darts from their last endeavour.

“We’re on,” Edelgard whispered, bringing her hand to scratch at a spot just above her lips to disguise the fact that she was talking to nobody. Monica stumbled on the sidewalk. Unsteady on her feet. She fell flat on her face a few more steps later.

Edelgard leapt to her feet and was at Monica’s side, “Excuse me, I’m a nurse. Could you give me some space?” She shooed away a few of the people who had stopped to try to help.

“Miss? Miss? Can you hear me?” Edelgard gently rolled Monica over so that she was facing the sky. “Can you tell me your name?”

“M-Monica…” Her words were slurred and she spoke slowly.

“Okay, Monica. I’m a nurse. I’m going to get you some help okay?” Edelgard kept a hand on Monica’s wrist, like she was taking her pulse. She looked up at the few people gathered around, “Hey you! Can you call for an ambulance?”

Bernadetta nailed the deer in headlights look every time, without fail. Wide-eyed, she fumbled for her phone and made the call. She rattled off the street name and situation with all the hesitation that her natural personality offered. Edelgard sincerely hoped that Bernadetta never got any better at grifting- nothing was more believable than her actual anxiety in a situation like this.

“T-they’ll be here shortly.” Bernadetta announced a second later, getting off the phone. 

On the ground, Monica looked dazed, eyes clouded over and confused. “Alright, Monica. Stay with me here. We’ll get you to a hospital.” 

Minutes later, a blaring ambulance pulled up. Two familiar figures hopped out of the ambulance with the gurney. Monica was loaded into the gurney and then the ambulance with ease- such ease that Edelgard wondered if Caspar and Petra had actually practiced this maneuver. 

“I’m a nurse, I’ll go with you to the hospital,” Edelgard told them as she clambered into the back of the ambulance.

Caspar got back into the driver’s seat as Petra sat in the back next to the gurney. The ambulance took off, the motion nearly throwing Edelgard to the floor. She steadied herself against the side of the vehicle.

“Monica? Can you hear me?” Edelgard asked. No response. Her eyes were still open, like she was struggling to stay fully awake.They fit her with an oxygen mask connected to a mix of gases Linhardt assured them would ensure Monica’s unconsciousness- just in case.

“Okay. Package secure and en route.” 

* * *

“How is everything going?” Edelgard asked. Hubert was leaned back in his chair, closely monitoring a series of screens set up before him. On the screens was a hospital room. There were four beds- three of them occupied. 

Monica lay in the one on the far right, still sleeping off the rest of the drugs. A bored and pale looking Ferdinand was flipping through a magazine in the bed directly next to her and their Dorothea-Flayn was set up in the bed the furthest away from both of them.

“Everything as planned,” Hubert replied. He had Monica’s cell phone plugged into his computer and was already going through all the data there for any information they might have missed. “Caspar is nearly done returning the ambulance. Linhardt is having a nap.” 

“He’ll really have that harried doctor look down then,” Edelgard said, a faint smile. They were in their element here. This was their domain. A goal and a plan was all they ever needed.

_ “She’s waking up.” _ Byleth stepped into view on Hubert’s monitors. 

Hubert looked up at Edelgard, who straightened out her scrubs. “Let’s wrap this up before Linhardt gets grumpy.” 

Caspar had truly done wonders with the borrowed hospital set. There was no ceiling to it, so he had put up a fake ceiling with working lights. They were in an old factory and he placed the hospital set so that the bathroom door actually led to a functioning single person bathroom that was a part of the old factory. 

Edelgard took one more moment to smooth over her outfit, took a deep breath and then stepped into the hospital. The plan was to give Monica enough time to get her bearings first, but not enough time for her to scrutinize their fake Flayn. 

Monica had been working with Flayn for long enough now that they were certain that even with Dorothea’s skills, their charade wouldn’t hold up for too long, so they weren’t going to give her time to doubt it. 

Byleth hovered at the edge of Dorothea-Flayn’s bed, pretending to go over charts. Positioned so that she would block the direct line of sight between Monica and Dorothea-Flayn. As skilled as Byleth was, it was decided that Edelgard should be the main point of contact between the ‘hospital staff’ and Monica. They wanted her to build trust with one of them, and sometimes Byleth’s mannerisms were unnerving- especially to a stranger.

Edelgard approached Monica’s bedside, she was blinking blearily at the ceiling, still somewhat disoriented. She pretended to check over the blinking machines that Monica was wired to really briefly. “Hi there, I’m your nursem Bridget, can you tell me your name?” Edelgard put on her best disarming smile. 

“M-Monica,” Monica replied slowly. She opened her mouth a few times more after that, almost like she was tasting something strange. Hurriedly, Edelgard brought the cup of water with a straw that they had prepared beforehand into view.

“Here, let me help you sit up and I’ll get you some water. Do you know where you are?” Carefully, Edelgard maneuvered her into a sitting position, supported by a few terribly thin authentically hospital-quality pillows. She brought the straw up to Monica’s lips, who drank deeply.

“I remember I was having a coffee,” Monica said after a few more sips, “and then nothing.” 

“You collapsed in the street and were brought here by ambulance.” Edelgard refilled the cup of water and this time, Monica took the cup from her with shaky hands. “You’re currently at St. Cethlann’s hospital in Derdriu.” 

“Do you know what’s wrong with me?” Monica asked, in between a few more sips of water. 

Edelgard pursed her lips, “I think it's best if the doctor is present before we discuss that.” She looked up, and right on cue, Linhardt stepped into the room. He had that exhausted look down to perfection, like a very important doctor on a very busy night.

“Hi, I’m Dr. Crichton,” Linhardt picked up the chart at the end of the bed, scanning it over. “It’s very fortunate that we got to you early. You were next on the list to be contacted.” He nodded to himself thoughtfully and made a note on the bottom of the chart.

Monica furrowed her brow at him. “Next on the list to be contacted for what?” 

A choked gasping sound behind Linhardt drew her attention from him as Dorothea-Flayn seized on her bed, A loud and rapid beeping filled the air, making Ferdinand jump in his bed, even though he was expecting it. 

“Doctor! She’s not breathing! Heart has stopped!” Byleth rushed to the side of the room and wheeled a cart of equipment over. 

“Flayn?” Monica cried out in surprise, catching enough of a glimpse of their fake Flayn like they wanted her to, and in the heat of the moment, her mind made the leap without questioning if any of the details were wrong. She made motion to get up and go to Flayn’s side but Edelgard firmly pushed her back into the bed. 

“Please stay here so that we have room to work,” Edelgard shot her a stern look, that made her freeze in her spot.

Linhardt dropped the chart he was carrying onto the foot of Monica’s bed and hurried over, Edelgard on his heels. “Okay give me a charge pulse of two hundred please.” He picked up the defibrillators while Edelgard brought the green curtain next to Dorothea-Flayn’s bed around to give them privacy.

“Hey what’s happening!” Monica yelled from the other side of the curtain. They had given her just enough time and space to see what they wanted her to see, or think she saw.

Dorothea-Flayn grinned up the three of them standing in the little closed off area around her bed. “Charged. Clear!” Byleth pressed a button on the side of the cart of equipment. And a series of speakers built into the cart played the telltale sound of the defibrillator going off and the sound of a body slamming into the bed. 

“No good, still in defib,” Edelgard called out. At least one of them was having fun with this. 

“Charge to three hundred please,” Linhardt half heartedly rubbed the two defillibrator pads together- not that it would do anything. They weren’t even plugged in. 

“Charged. Clear!” Byleth repeated, pressing the button on the side again. They waited a beat after the sounds played.

“Still nothing.” Edelgard let just the hint of panic and urgency creep into her voice.

“Charge to three sixty Linhardt knocked into the side of the bed and cart a few times, trying to make it sound like they were rushing around.

“Charged. Clear!” Byleth turned the knob slightly on the volume and pressed the button again.

“Nothing.” Edelgard looked down at Dorothea, expectantly 

Dorothea rolled her eyes and leaned back in her bed, composing herself and going completely limp. Edelgard leaned down and gently tousled Dorothea’s green Flayn wig to a more dishevelled state.

Linhardt let out a heavy and dramatic sigh, “I’ll call it. Time of death is 11:15 AM.” They could barely make out his next words over Monica’s yelling.

They looked at each other and silently decided that Edelgard would exit first to deal with Monica, to prevent her from getting too close while Byleth wheeled the bed away. 

Edelgard caught Monica in time just before she reached the curtains. She was unsteady on her feet, and Edelgard supported most of her weight as she guided her back to the bed. “What’s happening? What happened to Flayn? You have to tell me!” Monica was tense but otherwise not all that choked up over the death of somebody she knew.

“I’ll let the Garreg Mach University Hospital know that we lost her. That’s two now.” Linhardt could be overheard talking to Byleth as Byleth moved the bed into the hallway.

Monica looked back over their shoulder, mouth parting in shock. Edelgard looked over her shoulder as well and immediately wished she hadn’t. Dorothea did a remarkable job at playing dead. The angle of the bed and way that the stiff sheets draped over her still form left a sizable gap for Dorothea’s empty and glassy eyes to stare at the pair of them. She flinched away from the sight, opting to busy herself with re-filling Monica’s cup with more water. That was a sight she was certain would haunt her nightmares for weeks to come.

“Dr. Crichton will be back shortly and he’ll answer your questions.,” Edelgard told Monica and offered her the cup again. “More water?”

Monica took the cup, more for something to do than actually being thirsty. “What happened to Flayn?”

“You knew her?” Edelgard asked, in lieu of actually answering Monica’s question.

“We worked together for a few months.” 

“Oh.” Edelgard carefully schooled her expression so that Monica would see the look of surprise followed briefly by a grim expression like Edelgard was trying to maintain professional composure.

“What does that mean?” Monica watched Edelgard, eyes narrowed.

“I’ll let Dr. Crichton explain.” Edelgard repeated. Monica looked tense, shoulders drawn up, jaw clenched- no crying, no meltdown though.

Linhardt returned by himself. He ran a hand down his face, looking even more tired now. “Hello, sorry about that.” He picked up the chart from the foot of Monica’s bed again. “Okay, Miss van Och. We have received reports of debilitating illness associated with a fishing lure and you have been listed as one of the people who have been in contact with said item.” 

Monica’s head snapped up to look at Linhardt. A look of utter shock crossed her face. “You’re joking. This is some kind of joke.” 

“I assure you, Miss van Och, this is no joke.” He gestured to the spot where Dorothea-Flayn’s bed used to be. “She was one of our first cases and her illness progressed very quickly. We are currently in the process of contacting everyone who may have come into contact with the lure.”

“It’s just a fishing lure. I’ve been around it for a long time and nothing has happened.” Monica protested, she was in denial.

“The chemicals used to coat the fishing lure have been slowly degrading. Without that outer coating, the substances contained inside the lure have been oxidizing and mixing together, and releasing into the air. The longer it oxidized, the more toxic it became. So people with prolonged exposure and people who were exposed during later stages of oxidation will be the most badly affected.” Linhardt made another note on the chart.

“It’s a fishing lure! What kind of chemicals could possibly be in it?” 

“It’s an experimental fishing lure,” Linhardt corrected. “Some of the chemicals contained within were experimental and not thoroughly tested because they weren’t meant to be used in such a manner.” 

“What about Seteth? He created the lure! He must have some cure, or some idea about what to do.” Monica was panicking, the water in her cup sloshed over the brim and Edelgard hastily rescued the cup from her hands. She didn’t want to have to change the sheets of the bed.

Linhardt’s expression hardened. “Oh. He was the first one to be affected. His case was what notified us of the toxicity of the lure. He was the first fatal case. It’s unfortunate that it has been stolen. We do not know the exact chemical composition of the lure, otherwise we could have studied it to find a more precise treatment.” 

Monica gaped at them a few times as Linhardt scanned the different machines around her bedside and made some more notes. 

“You’ll receive the best care that we can offer, don't worry. Your symptoms have not progressed as quickly as the others, which is a good sign. I’ll come check on you again later. Nurse? Could you get something for her to eat?” Linhardt tucked the chart back into its spot, hanging from the end of the bed.

Edelgard nodded, “Of course, Dr. Crichton.” 

Linhardt turned and nodded in greeting to Ferdinand, who was watching them over his magazine. Trying his best not to look like he was obviously eavesdropping.

“I’ll go grab you something to eat. Just hang tight okay?” Edelgard carefully swung the table near the bed around so that it lay across the middle of the bed, so Monica had access to the table while remaining sitting in bed. She placed the cup back into the center of the table and then retreated out of the room, closing the door behind her.

Ferdinand nodded almost imperceptibly to her as she left.

Monica was silent, still in disbelief and digesting the new information.

In the hallway, Byleth stood waiting with a tray of hospital food. In reality, it was some frozen food they reheated and a jello cup. They had considered letting Caspar cook, but they didn’t want to outright kill her with his cooking. They huddled beside the doorway, the door was closed but it did nothing to hamper their eavesdropping.

Overhead, Hubert played a few recordings of various hospital announcements, some footsteps rushing down the hallways, the squeaking of carts or beds being moved.keeping up the charade of a busy hospital.

They could hear Ferdinand begin chatting up Monica, an inappropriate amount of enthusiasm clear in his voice. 

“Yeah, you won’t believe the crazy stuff that gets left behind in hotel rooms all the time.” They could hear the sound of Ferdinand scratching himself. Edelgard made a mental note to buy him some really nice moisturizer when they were done with this heist. “Don’t tell my boss this, but sometimes, if it's something really nice, I’ll just take it for myself.” More scratching. “Sorry, I’m just really itchy.” 

Edelgard turned to find Byleth staring at her intently. Her eyes were calculating. For a second, Edelgard wasn’t sure if Byleth was more caught up in the conversation in the room or staring at her. She mentally slapped herself, Byleth was a professional, of course she was focusing on the room.

“When did you start noticing symptoms?” Monica was curious. 

“I’ve always had like a bad immune response to stuff and I had this weird rash for a while, but I thought it was just the cleaning products that we used at the hotel being irritating you know? Last week was when it got really bad though. They found me in the hallway just completely out of it and brought me here.” 

“And you caught it from cleaning out the hotel room that the fishing lure was in?” 

“Yeah! That’s the only place that they could think of, but I’m sure I’ll get worker’s comp for this and all. Oh my goddess, what is happening to your arms?”

They heard the frantic shuffling of fabric on fabric, presumably, Monica freaking out.

“What? What? I don’t know what’s happening. Nurse! Nurse! Help me!” Edelgard took the tray from Byleth, jogged on the spot for a few seconds and then rushed into the room, breathing a little bit heavily. 

Monica had her arms up in the air. Her hand,s all the way down the backside of her arms, to her elbows were covered in a rash that matched Ferdinand’s. Linhardt and Bernadetta did a really good job with the makeup on Ferdinand.

“Oh my goodness,” Edelgard swung the table away from Monica and set the tray of food on it. She hit a button on the wall, causing a faint red light to start blinking above Monica’s bed and a muted beeping sound. “When did this happen?” 

“I don’t know? Just now?” Monica was waving her arms frantically in the air. 

Linhardt burst into the room. “What’s happening?” 

“She suddenly developed a rash.” Edelgard said as Linhardt approached her and began examining her arms.

“This is a stage three rash,” Linhardt murmured, turning her arms this way and that to examine them closely. 

“What’s a stage three rash?” 

They ignored her question. “Nurse, we’re going to start treatment immediately. Give her a milligram of ascorbate.” Linhardt looked over at Edelgard.

“Are you sure?” Edelgard knew it wasn’t her position here to question the doctor, but she let just enough surprise slip through for Monica to catch on.

“Yes. We’re going to want to treat this aggressively.” Linhardt decided. “Mr. Michaels here has improved significantly on the same regiment.” He patted Ferdinand’s bed and gave Monica his most reassuring smile.

“I’ve been feeling much better, doc!” Ferdinand chimed in, both thumbs up.

“I’ll get right on it.” Edelgard brought the table with the food back before Monica. “I’ve brought you some food. Don’t feel pressured to eat it all, just whatever you feel comfortable with, we don’t want you to get more sick from eating too much or little.”

Monica nodded. “Do you know where my stuff is?”

“Oh,” Edelgard paused, “I believe it’s all still in decontamination, sorry. We had to take every precaution with your belongings- your clothes included. There’s a chance the toxins have remained on non-living surfaces. I’ll have them brought over once they’re done being contaminated, don’t worry.” 

Resigned, Monica leaned back in her bed.

From beside her, Ferdinand kept scratching at his arms and legs. “Don’t worry, Monica! We can stave off the boredom together! I’ve got a bunch of magazines here.”

Monica huffed, clearly not in the mood to deal with Ferdinand-the-hotel-cleaner’s exuberance. 

As Edelgard left, she caught a glimpse of Monica scratching her arms absentmindedly.

* * *

“Everything is going to plan. We are on schedule.” Hubert announced when Edelgard returned to his little command center. Byleth sat in the corner, eyes staring off into nothingness, while Dorothea was busy scrubbing the makeup off of her arms and collarbone. Linhardt was deep in conversation with Bernadetta, looking over Ferdinand in the monitor, presumably about applying more signs of illness to him when they could next get him out of the room. Caspar and Petra had also returned from their tasks. Petra acted as Dorothea’s mirror stand, holding Dorothea’s compact up so she could get all the makeup off while Caspar lounged around.

“That spray stuff on Monica’s table really works fast, huh?” Caspar remarked to Edelgard as she crossed the room. She nodded in response, she’d have to remove the table and swap it for a clean one before Monica noticed what exactly was the source of her rash. But for now, it was fine.

Edelgard crouched down in front of Byleth. It took a second for Byleth’s eyes to focus on her, her sudden appearance having brought her out of her stupor.

“You doing okay?” Edelgard asked softly. 

Byleth closed her eyes briefly and smiled, “Yes. Just tired.” 

She seemed a little bit more out of it than usual but nothing too drastic that was a cause for immediate concern. “Maybe you should take a nap,” Edelgard said. “I’m sure it’s more comfortable in the car than on the floor here,” she dug around her things that she kept off to the side for the car keys.

Byleth stopped her with a gentle hand, “No, it’s okay. I want to be on hand in case anything  _ fishy  _ happens.” 

Edelgard tried her best to resist groaning at Byleth’s fish pun.“Here, at least drink this,” She pulled out a bottle of lemon tea from her bag. “Get some sugar in you.”

“I’m not going to steal your drink. What will you drink?” Byleth politely pushed the bottle back towards Edelgard.

“We can share.” Edelgard retorted pointedly. She twisted the cap off and took a sip of it to prove a point. She paused. Maybe she should have offered it to Byleth first? 

Byleth’s expression brightened inexplicably, and took the bottle from her without any other complaints. They sat there for a few minutes, passing the bottle back and forth silently until it was empty. If the other Black Eagles noticed anything, they certainly didn’t say anything.

“Let’s signal Ferdinand,” Linhardt said, leaning over Hubert’s shoulder. They could hear Ferdinand still chattering away enthusiastically about different cleaning products and things in the magazine he was reading, all the while he was beginning to scratch his torso, moving on past his limbs.

Hubert nodded and pressed a button, “Dr. Crichton, phone call on line two. Dr. Crichton, phone call on line two.” Dorothea’s pre-recorded voice played over the speakers. 

Everyone watched the screens as Ferdinand continued chattering and picked up his magazine once again. He lifted it casually to his face, examining it. Then he turned it to Monica, asking her to take a look at the ergonomic computer chairs on the page and decide which one would look better in a dark themed room. The magazine covered the lower half of his face so that just his eyes peered at Monica over the magazine. 

Monica halfheartedly glanced at the magazine- she was picking through the food on her tray, and pointed at a chair at random. And when Ferdinand brought the magazine back down so he could look at her choice, blood was pouring out of his nose.

“Greg?” Monica called, wide-eyed.

Ferdinand looked up from his magazine, “Yes?”

“Your nose is bleeding?” 

Ferdinand brought his hand up to his face and wiped at his nose. His hand came away bright red. “Oh, I am.” He replied, dazed. His eyes rolled back into his head and he swayed unsteadily back and forth for a moment. They all groaned softly under their breath. Trust Ferdinand to take a dramatic approach on fainting. Then he collapsed backwards into his bed.

“Nurse!”

* * *

“It’s alright, Monica. Dr. Crichton is running some tests on Greg now, I’m sure we’ll have things figured out soon.” Edelgard reassured the frazzled woman, helping her fluff the incredibly thin pillows. “I’ve also got the treatment that Dr. Crichton prescribed for you.” She held out a small plastic cup with two white pills in it. They were harmless vitamin C pills- exactly as Linhardt had ordered.

Monica eyed them suspiciously. “Are you sure about these?”

“Dr. Crichton did prescribe them.” Edelgard shook the little plastic cup in front of her, trying to entice her to take them.

“Yeah but you didn’t sound so sure.” 

“Dr. Crichton is more qualified than I am about these sorts of things.” Edelgard said diplomatically and shrugged.

Monica frowned at her but didn’t take the pills from her hand.

“Look, I’m going to set them here.” Edelgard put the pills on the bedside table. “I can’t force you to take them. But I’m going to leave them here and leave the choice up to you. This should probably be empty by the time Dr. Crichton gets back though.” Byleth and Linhardt had pushed the unconscious hotel cleaner, bed and all out of the room in a rush earlier.

Monica looked at the little white cup then at Edelgard, then back at the little white cup. She pursed her lips and nodded. 

“Also, I’ve brought your phone back from decontamination.” Edelgard pulled a phone out of one of the large pockets on her pants. She handed Monica her phone back, encased in a plastic freezer bag. Hubert had worked his magic on the phone and he now controlled all incoming and outgoing signals on the device. If she tried to message anyone or got a message, he would get it first and then if necessary, make some edits. 

“Why is it in the bag?” 

“They wanted to be extra sterile, here, I’ll take it out for you.” Edelgard moved to take the bag back from Monica who hastily clutched the bag to her chest, out of Edelgard’s reach.

“No, that’s not necessary, I’ll do it myself.” 

Someone certainly was touchy about her phone.

But she did look a little bit less tense now that she had her phone back.

“Are you finished with the food-oops,” Edelgard  _ accidentally _ knocked over the cup of water on the table as she turned.

“Uh, yeah I’m done with it.” Monica barely looked up from her phone.

Edelgard wasn’t sure what information Hubert was feeding her through the device, but she seemed enamoured with it. “I’m just going to take the whole table and get it cleaned up.” Edelgard pulled the table from the empty bed to Monica’s side instead. She refilled Monica’s cup of water and put it on the bedside table so she could access it easily. Then she wheeled the dirtied table to the door, using her hip and a hand on the metal frame to guide it, never touching the surface itself. “Monica? Did you need anything else while I’m here?” 

“No, no. I’m okay thank you.” 

Edelgard left. Things were working out exactly as they wanted.

* * *

Linhardt and Byleth returned a pale and even more sickly Ferdinand to the room almost an hour later. He was still unconscious, hooked up to more meaningless machines that made all kinds of beeps and an oxygen mask fitted over his face. Bernadetta and Dorothea touched up his makeup, making him look even more gaunt and increasing the amount of rashes on his body.

The two of them left without saying a word to Monica, just gave her a visual once over and then walked away. It seemed having the unconscious Ferdinand in the room really unnerved her. She kept shooting him furtive glances. It seemed she preferred his chatty over-the-top persona to his unresponsive form. 

“They’re absolutely swamped down in emergency.” Edelgard and Byleth stood in the hallway, just beyond the closed door. They huddled around Edelgard’s phone, watching Monica in the room suddenly pause and perk up, eavesdropping on their conversation.

“Oh?” Byleth replied. “I thought they would’ve cleared out at the rate that they’re admitting people over here.” 

“No, they’ve had to convert the second floor into an overflow toxin treatment wing.” 

“Is that where Dr. Crichton is?” 

Monica wasn’t even trying to hide that she was listening intently to their conversation. She had one hand cupped around her ear- as if that really helped her at this distance.

“Yes, he’s the city’s specialist after all. He has the giant paycheque to prove it.” Edelgard sighed bitterly. She rolled her eyes at Byleth.

“You really think this little thing caused this much damage?” 

“I mean, experimental chemicals are experimental for a reason. The treatment would be pretty straightforward too if we had the blasted thing. I could probably make it in my kitchen, we just have to make sure the compounds are in the right ratios.”

“Hey, don’t let Dr. Crichton hear you say that. He’s looking forward to getting a nice big award for the treatment of this.”

Briefly, Edelgard wondered what it would be like if her and Byleth lived differently lives- meeting at a boring office job. This would be like their water cooler talk, they could get coffee, break all sorts of HR rules about dating- would they even be the same people? Would she like a Byleth in that universe? Would Byleth like her? Did Byleth like her now?

She still had a job to focus on now. She could entertain these thoughts later. “But of course, we get to do all the grunt work, he says a few things and takes all the credit for it.” She grumbled bitterly. 

“If things get really bad, they might lock down the hospital- just to prevent people from leaving and spreading a panic.” 

They watched as Monica seemingly perked up at the sound of that. It seemed like being stuck in the hospital was something that she did not want.

“I hope not,” Edelgard tucked the phone away, ready for the next phase of their plan. 

A loud insistent beeping sounded from the room. “Help! Nurse! Doctor! Something is happening!” Monica yelled.

Edelgard and Byleth burst into the room. All the machines that Ferdinand was hooked up to were beeping and flashing. Quickly, Edelgard motioned for Monica to remain in her bed as she drew the curtain around Ferdinand’s bed. Linhardt joined them a moment later, calling out instructions. “Rashes have progressed to stage five on his arms. We’re going to move him straight to the OR. We’ll have to amputate both arms to save him or else the rash will progress even further.” 

“Amputate?” Edelgard echoed dumbly. “Dr. Crichton, are you sure about this?”

“Yes! Why are you questioning me? I am the doctor here, you are but a nurse. Do you think that you are more qualified to treat this patient than I am?” LInhardt mustered up all the anger he could possibly gather- which admittedly wasn’t a lot, but it would suffice.

“No, Dr. Crichton.”

“Now get this patient to operating room one before I decide to lodge a complaint with your supervisor.”

“Of course, Dr. Crichton.” Edelgard kept her head down, the very picture of a chastised employee as she helped Byleth wheel Ferdinand and a stand of the beeping machines out the door.

As she left, she caught Monica’s horrified gaze and offered her only a grim look. 

_ They had her hooked. _

_ (Goddess damn you and your fish puns, Byleth.) _  
  


* * *

Edelgard returned to Monica’s bedside a little while later with another little cup of vitamin C pills. The first one was already empty- whether or not Monica actually took them was another question entirely. Monica was dozing in her bed, but snapped to attention as Edelgard approached.

“How’s Greg?” Monica asked, eyeing the cup warily.

Edelgard shook her head sadly, “He never made it to the operating room. Died on the way there.” She kept her voice low, head bowed, not quite meeting Monica’s eyes.

Monica was silent, taking in the information. “You said that you could make a cure if you had the lure?”

Edelgard nodded. “It would be relatively straightforward but we don’t have the lure in question.” She could tell Monica was running through the scenarios, weighing her options carefully.

“There’s more people affected by this right?”

“Yes, we’re doing our best. But it’s kind of overwhelming and officials are keeping everything hush hush so we don’t panic the city.”

Byleth burst into the room, looking frazzled and sweaty- had she been running laps outside? “We have an emergency. They’re locking down the hospital. A big group of people came into the emergency room with signs of the toxin.” 

Edelgard pressed the plastic cup into Monica’s hand and started heading toward Byleth. “That doesn’t make any sense. Can they actually do that?”

“Some military hotshot guy came down with the orders. We can’t do anything about it.” 

“Of course it’s some hotshot guy who has never dealt with something like this before,” Edelgard ground out bitterly.

“Nurse? Help! I don’t know what’s happening!” They turned to see Monica holding a hand over her face. Blood was quickly seeping through her fingers.

“I’ll be there as soon as I can,” Edelgard waved Byleth off as she rushed back to Monica’s bedside, pulling out a handful of tissues from the box on the bedside table. She grabbed the back of Monica’s head with one hand and held the clump of tissues up against her nose with the other soaking up the blood. Fear and stress was apparently an excellent substitute for blood capsules when creating a nosebleed.

“What’s going to happen during the lockdown?” Monica mumbled, her voice muffled by the tissues.

“They’ll prevent any patients from leaving, most likely.”

“What about the people who work here?”

“I don’t know. Some of us might be cleared to go.” 

“And if you had the lure, you could cure me? Would you need to destroy the lure to make the cure?” 

Edelgard looked down at her sharply, “Yes. I could. I’ve said that already. I’d need a small sample of it, maybe like a couple millimetres worth of an edge or something. But we don’t have the lure so let’s stop thinking about it.”

“What if I could get you the lure?”

“What?”

“If I got you the lure, would you be able to cure me?”

“Obviously. But where are you going to get the lure? It’s missing.”

“Don’t worry about that. I need to get out of the hospital though.”

Edelgard frowned at her, “There’s a lockdown. I can’t let you out of the hospital.”

“Look, you can synthesize the cure and then go public and save the city with it. You’d get all the credit for your hard work, not Dr. Crichton.” 

Edelgard hesitated, playing up the conflict on her face.

“I know you don’t get paid a lot either. But after you make the cure, there’s an investor who was very interested in profiting off the lure itself, but we can instead profit off the cure. I’d share some of the lure profits with you to kickstart your cure business.” Monica waggled her eyebrows at her, trying to entice her.   


“How much?”

“We’re talking at least in the tens of thousands of dollars.” Tens of thousands was significantly less than the five-hundred thousand that Monica had been promised, but Edelgard wasn't going to argue with her over that now.

Edelgard sighed. “Okay. But! I can only think of one way of getting you out of the hospital undetected- it won’t be comfortable.”

Monica smiled, delighted with where things were going. “As long as it gets me out of here.”

* * *

Hubert nodded to Edelgard as she gathered the things that she would need for the next phase of their plan. “She contacted whoever hired her. They’re going to make the trade tonight. She hasn’t told our mystery puppet master about the lure being toxic though, she just wants to get rid of the thing and get the money.”

“Greed,” Edelgard shrugged like that was the explanation.

“You going to be okay?” Byleth was in the middle of helping pack away some of their equipment. It never hurt to get a headstart on cleaning away any traces of their presence.

“Yeah. Don’t worry. I could take Monica with a hand and a foot tied behind my back.” Edelgard shot Byleth a reassuring grin. They were all tired, but things were looking good.

Dorothea popped up from behind Byleth, looking very much alive and herself again. “Kinky,” she smirked and waggled her eyebrows suggestively.

Edelgard flushed, “You’re the worst.”

Byleth grinned, “Well, signal if you need anything and I’ll be there.”

Edelgard nodded and turned away, her heart suddenly making its thunderous presence well known. Both Byleth and Dorothea could probably hear its traitorous rhythm at the rate that it was going. But, she had to focus. There was still work to be done.

The plan to get Monica out of their fake hospital was simple. Edelgard returned close to an hour later with a large black body bag and a gurney. Monica stared at both of those things. 

“This is the easiest way out.” Edelgard told her simply.

Grumbling, she clambered into the bag and allowed Edelgard to zip it up. Edelgard purposefully had set the bag up so when she zipped it up, the zipper would end up by Monica’s feet. She left it open a crack just so Monica could breathe.

For a moment it seemed like Monica would complain and force Edelgard to flip the bag around but Byleth and Linhardt’s well timed hurried footsteps and voices made Monica lie still. Edelgard took this opportunity to start pushing the gurney out the door, preventing Monica from objecting.

She wheeled them out of their fake hospital set and down the hall of the factory, using her loud footsteps and squeaky wheels to help mask where they were really going.

Caspar left a large van in the loading bay of the factory and Edelgard wheeled Monica right into the back of it. She locked the wheels of the gurney and hastily slammed the door. The van rumbled to life, and Edelgard pulled out of the factory and into the dark Derdriu night.

As she drove, she pulled the com from a cup holder in the center console that Caspar left for her and fitted it into her ear. She coughed twice, signalling the rest of the Black Eagles that she had the com in. 

_ “I’m spoofing her GPS signal to make it seem like you’ve just left St. Cethlann’s.” _

Nearly ten minutes later, she pulled up to a mostly deserted gas station. The bright fluorescent lights were nearly blinding. She clambered into the back of the van and unzipped Monica from the bag.

“Where are we?” Monica was a little sweaty and confused, but otherwise fine.

“I have to get gas. You should change while I do that.” Edelgard thrust a plastic bag containing Monica’s street clothes and purse that Caspar had placed in the back.

Monica nodded as Edelgard climbed back to the front seat and then out of the van, making sure to take the car keys with her. Of course, this pit stop was also planned- they wanted a neutral location outside of the fake hospital that she and Monica could talk freely in. Gas stations were perfect for that- they were some kind of limbo in between realities at- Edelgard checked her phone, - nearly two in the morning.

She paid for about thirty dollars worth of gas in cash, and picked up a few bottles of water and a couple candy bars as well. Monica was waiting in the passenger seat, fully dressed, by the time Edelgard finished filling up the van. She was still scratching at her arms and now her legs. Edelgard may have sprayed the sides of the bag with that itchy-rash-creating spray they used on her earlier. No sense in making her think that the symptoms were letting up.

“Here, have some water,” Edelgard handed her a bottle of water and a candy bar. “Where are we headed?”

“Derdriu Island amusement park,” Monica replied. 

The Black Eagles were well aware of where they were heading, but Edelgard made a confused look all the same. “Derdriu Island?” she echoed.

“Yes, that’s where the lure is.” Monica sighed impatiently. She took a sip of water.

Edelgard regarded her suspiciously, the way one might when a child told you a tall tale.

“Look, I’m serious here. Do you think I’m going there in the middle of the night just for kicks after everything that I have gone through?” 

“No, no. I’ll take you there,” Edelgard started up the van again.

The drive to Derdriu Island took the better part of twenty minutes. Both of them fell silent, Edelgard concentrating on getting to Derdriu Island while Monica was busily typing away at her phone, pausing only to scratch furiously at her legs. Her phone was now attached to a battery pack that she had produced from her purse, she barely looked up as Edelgard pulled up in an alleyway directly across one of the side entrances of the amusement park.

“Okay, what now?” Edelgard asked. She looked across the street at the darkened amusement park. It was kind of creepy without all of the lights and noise.

“We go in,” Monica replied, unplugging her phone and jamming it into her back pocket.

“Go inside?”

“Yeah. Did you think the lure was just sitting out in the middle of the parking lot for us to find?” Monica hopped out of the van.

“I didn’t sign up for breaking into an amusement park.”

“You didn’t have any issues breaking me out of a locked down hospital.” Monica replied, exasperated.

“Breaking you out of a locked down hospital is not the same as breaking into an amusement park at night.”

“Look, I’m going to need help to get this thing. So either you come with me or we’re both screwed.” 

Edelgard sighed and resigned herself to be Monica’s accomplice for this ‘mini-heist’. If they knew where the lure was, she was certain Petra could single-handedly retrieve it without breaking a sweat. But here she was, playing babysitter to a thief she was certain couldn’t do much above stealing a fishing lure from a poor naive girl who trusted her.

_ “Caspar and Petra have lured the patrols away from the side entrance already. You are safe to proceed.” _

_ “That’s a good pun, Hubert.”  _

A beat passed.

_ “Get it? Because we’re after a fishing lure and you said lure-” _

_ “-Oh I get it, Byleth. I just don’t think it’s funny. Now please stop using this line for non-job related things.” _

Edelgard sighed. Despite her shenanigans, Byleth had planned for this scenario as well.

Quickly, the two of them crossed the road to the now locked gates of the amusement park. There were no security guards or police at the gate as Hubert reported.

Monica stood there for a moment, in the open, studying the gate and Edelgard had to resist the urge to facepalm. The least she could do was not stand there in the middle of the open street in plain view of everyone.

“I think you’re going to have to boost me over the gate.” Monica decided a moment later.

“Yeah okay,” Edelgard knelt down one knee and cupped her hands. She pretended to struggle under Monica’s weight even though she lifted things at least twice Monica’s weight on the daily. “One, two, three!” She wobbled uncertainly for a moment before boosting Monica up onto the top of the stone wall next to the gate.

For a second, Edelgard considered just leaving Monica to go get the lure on her own. But Monica held a hand down to her, locking her legs around the sides of the wall to secure herself. Monica would probably immediately get herself caught if she went in there alone. Edelgard grabbed Monica’s hand and scrambled to the top of the wall with significantly less grace than she usually had. Appearances to keep and all that.

They dropped down silently onto the other side. Still no guards in sight. Quickly, they made their way through the empty amusement park, sticking close to the back of different booths. 

“In here,” Monica hissed, ducking underneath rope with an ‘Employees Only’ sign attached to it. They wandered into the back area of the amusement park, passing various carts that needed repairs and other pieces of equipment in various stages of assembly. 

Monica scooped up a flathead screwdriver from one of the open tool chests and Edelgard tensed, was Monica going to turn on her?

Nothing happened. They turned a few more corners, Edelgard making note of the path they took just in case things went wrong. Then they were standing before the base of one of the rides it seemed. To their right was the telltale metal railings that cordoned off the area for lines for the ride. Edelgard looked up, they were at the base of the ferris wheel.

Monica knelt at the base of the ferris wheel and began unscrewing one of the panels. Every bone in Edelgard’s body screamed that this wasn’t a good idea. This was too open. Anybody could cross in front of the ferris wheel and see them, standing there. Also, could she work any slower? It was just a couple of screws.

Edelgard peeked around the metal structure, keeping a sharp eye for security. There was a pair of them, strolling casually between the rides, headed in their direction. They looked like they were just security guards hired by the park and not the police.

_ “Cough twice if you need a distraction.”  _ Hubert could see them too, ever present through the eyes of the many security cameras. She knew he was also hard at work, scrubbing any traces of her off the footage.

There was a loud clang as the metal plate that Monica was unscrewing suddenly popped free and hit the ground before she could catch it. Edelgard resisted the urge to roll her eyes, how in the name of the goddess had Monica ever come this far?  


“Hey, what was that?” The guards were running in their direction.

“Hurry up,” Edelgard hissed. 

Monica had her arm up to the shoulder up to the panel. “One sec!” When she pulled her arm back, there was a small drawstring bag in her clutches.

“Hey you!” That was one second too many apparently. “Freeze! Come out with your hands up!”

Edelgard coughed into her sleeve twice as she hauled Monica to her feet and took off running, back through the way that they came, hoping to lose the guards in the maze of equipment.

A sharp crack echoed through the night, followed by several smaller pops and crackles. Edelgard knew that Caspar had set something fiery and gunpowder based off somewhere. Hopefully there was no glitter involved, she would hate if that suddenly became part of the Black Eagles signature.

As they passed through the various tool carts, Edelgard pushed Monica in front of her, indicating that she should take the lead. A pair of bolt cutters lay on the top of one tool cart, tossed there haphazardly after its last use- Edelgard scooped those up as she ran. There was no way she was going to be able to boost Monica over the wall in time. They made it to the gate in record time, Monica panting heavily, hands on her knees as Edelgard ran up.

Quickly, Edelgard cut the padlock securing the gate and tossed it aside. The gate swung open with a rusted creak that made Edelgard wince. “Come on, let’s go,” Edelgard pretended to be out of breath like Monica as she pulled her across the road, back to the van. The bolt cutters were tossed into the back of the van, landing in the body bag with a muted thud. Monica didn’t move again, frozen to the seat, until they were driving away, the amusement park out of sight.

Once they were far enough away, Monica seemingly relaxed. She dug into the bag and pulled out a shimmery, iridescent fishing lure about the size of Edelgard’s fist. The colouring of it honestly reminded her of a teenager’s holographic wallet or backpack.

_ “We’re clear. We’ll double around and be waiting at Monica’s place.”  _ Caspar sounded slightly out of breath, but otherwise fine.

_ “That’s fine. Edelgard, our mysterious puppet master is getting antsy. I would suggest hurrying with the rest of the plan.”  _ Hubert sounded strained on the other end. Hopefully Byleth would be able to handle whatever it was that happening over on the other end. Edelgard paused. When did she start depending on Byleth to handle things in her stead? She added that thought to a long list of things she promised herself that she would think about and would hopefully never do so.

“Where are we going?” Edelgard asked, merging onto the highway, trying to get lost in the surprisingly busy road despite the late hour. She knew the answer already, but she wanted Monica to suggest it.

“Your place?” Monica piped up.

Edelgard shook her head, “I live on the other side of the city. It’ll take forty-five minutes to get there and being out on the road for that long kind of freaks me out.”

Monica pursed her lips, thinking, “My place is close by. Take the next exit.”

It was smooth sailing from there, their plan falling into place neatly. Or as Byleth had put it, much to the rest of the group’s dismay, Monica had fallen for their ploy, ‘ _hook, line, and sinker_ ’. Linhardt had prepared a mixture that Edelgard passed off as the cure- mixing the white powder with a bottle of water when Monica wasn’t looking. After fiddling around in Monica’s kitchen for about a half hour, burning random things and making a general mess, Monica seemed to believe in the cure. She also got tired after ten minutes of watching Edelgard do vaguely science-y things and wandered off to shower, leaving Edelgard unattended with the lure.

Usually, Edelgard could call it a night at this point, scoop up the lure and disappear into the night but they had bigger fish to fry.

_ Bigger fish to fry _ . Byleth’s fishy sense of humour was beginning to rub off on her- there it was again.

Monica drank Linhardt’s magical cure with only minor skepticism (apparently it was mainly just a big dose of caffeine) The effects of the caffeine would make Monica feel a little bit better after the day she had been through, making her think it was actually curing something.

Cure downed, Monica ushered Edelgard out of the now foul smelling apartment- unfortunate collateral damage, and back into the van. 

_ “Byleth and Bernadetta have scoped out your meeting location and set up some parabolic microphones around the meeting area. It’s in the industrial district. Lots of spaces to hide behind. So be careful. The police are mobilizing on our anonymous tip.” _

Edelgard parked the van in a back alleyway as Monica instructed her to, just out of sight. She let the van idle, it was quiet enough anyways. The street lamp above them flickered. It was eerie, too silent, surrounded by darkness and empty buildings.

_ “We have movement. Single sedan coming in hot from the north.” _ Edelgard couldn’t see Byleth or Bernadetta at all. She hoped they were hiding somewhere very safe. In the distance, she could hear the screeching of tires. Whoever this was, they were driving like a maniac.

Monica smiled as a black sedan pulled into the street. “Stay here,” she said to Edelgard as she grabbed the small drawstring bag and hopped out of the van. It was difficult for Edelgard to see in the dim lighting. Monica strutted proudly up to the sedan, twirling the bag in her hand. She leaned into the open driver’s side window.

_ “Police vehicles are inbound.”  _ Bernadetta squeaked.  _ “Byleth! Left here!”  _ She sounded stressed. Byleth must be driving then. 

_ “Sorry, I’m not used to driving a car. Didn’t mean to uhm, fishtail? -like that.” _

Edelgard frowned, she couldn’t get a good glimpse of the driver, of whoever was behind this. She debated inching forward a little bit to see the driver of the other car.

_ “Edelgard, you have to get out of there.”  _ Hubert’s voice was edged with the slightest hint of panic. He was fighting to keep it under control. Something was wrong.

No sooner than he had said that, Edelgard caught a glimpse of hauntingly bright orange hair and ghostly pale skin. 

Edelgard froze. She gripped the steering wheel tightly, she could feel her heart race wildly, a white haze blanketed the world around her. A ghost that Edelgard had thought she had long exorcised.

_ Kronya. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like everyone knew Kronya was coming- given her relationship in the game with Monica. But things are afoot!
> 
> I've been sitting on this chapter for quite a while now and I just got tired of writing Monica and just looking at it. This chapter is quite long but originally I was going to tack it on to the end of the previous chapter and that would've felt like it dragged that chapter on for way too long so I gave it its own separate chapter.
> 
> As always, you have my endless gratitude for comments and kudos. Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed the new chapter.
> 
> Stay safe! See you next week :)


	8. Edelgard III

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Black Eagles deal with the aftermath of their last heist.
> 
> Things are not going so great.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's a nightmare scene in the middle of the chapter in italics. I thought I'd give yall a heads up just in case if you don't want to read it. It's nothing wild but better safe than sorry?

Linhardt stared down at Edelgard. They were in the Black Eagles common room. She sat in her favourite armchair, staring off into the distance. Caspar had pulled Linhardt aside as soon as they had returned. “I don’t know what’s up. But she’s been all distant and silent like this the whole time.” He made a vague, wiggling hand gesture. “Something’s off. But I just don’t know what and I don’t think it’s a problem you make go away by punching it or punching something really hard.”

“Temperature feels a little bit low, heart rate is slightly elevated…” Linhardt murmured to himself. She barely reacted to his presence, letting him take her wrist for vitals without any fuss. Usually she would’ve shied away from him by now. Caspar was right. The hyperactive man had a good nose for this sort of thing, setting Linhardt on their teammates’ cases with a lot more discretion than one would attribute to Caspar.

“Can I give her some tea?” Byleth spoke up from his elbow. Linhardt flinched at her sudden appearance. She had used her uncanny ability to sneak up on people to catch him napping more than once now. Typically he would be able to pretend he was at least doing something productive when someone approached him- with Byleth, it was impossible.

“Yeah that should be fine. Just make sure it’s not too hot. She should be fine really, but I don’t want to take the chance of her scalding herself by accident.”

Byleth brought the mug to her lips and blew on the steaming liquid for a few seconds. She took a quick sip and nodded. Gently, she pressed the mug into Edelgard’s hand, who seemed to rouse slightly at her touch. “Drink up.”

“Do you know where you are Edelgard?” Linhardt leaned down so that he was eye-level with her. Her pupils didn’t seem dilated and her breathing was even, all good signs.

“We’re in the common area of the homebase-” she cut her own answer off, “I’m fine Linhardt. I’m just really tired. It’s been a long job and dealing with Monica the whole time has not been easy.”

Linhardt frowned, unconvinced. They pulled plenty of long cons and heists before. This was the first time that he was seeing _this_ on her.

Edelgard must have sensed his doubt because she twisted her hand around- her wrist still in his grip, and patted his hand. “I’m fine, Linhardt. Seriously. I just need to get some rest. You can come check on me again tomorrow morning if that will make you feel better.”

He relented. “But, I want you to at least eat something. You haven’t had anything substantial for a while now. Ferdinand is making some soup. Drink your tea.” 

Edelgard obeyed his instructions without complaint, sipping at her drink.

Ferdinand grinned at him from the kitchen where he was doling out portions.

Edelgard sat up straighter all of a sudden. “The lure! It’s still in my purse!” 

Linhardt and Byleth both looked down at Edelgard and then at each other. Yeah, this was definitely, as Caspar would so eloquently put it- funky.

“Your purse is here,” Byleth lifted the bag from the ground next to Edelgard.

“It’s in the secret pocket on the side.”

Byleth took a minute to dig around, before producing a bundle of brown paper. She handed it to Linhardt who promptly unwrapped it. 

The shimmering, glimmering headache that was this lure honestly offended every single one of Linhardt’s senses- and it wasn’t even designed to make noise. He held it at an arm's length away from himself like it really was toxic. “I can’t believe we went through all this trouble for this hideous thing. I hate everything, thanks.”

“Good thing you aren’t the fish that it’s designed for,” Byleth grinned and took the lure from him, turning it over in her hands in wonder. A slight movement made both of them turn their attention back to Edelgard.

Just the faintest hint of a tremble. 

Byleth nearly dropped the lure in her haste to grab a throw blanket from the couch next to them while Linhardt tripped over the other couch on his way to the kitchen. He caught himself before actually faceplanting. By the time he retrieved a bowl of soup, Byleth had wrapped Edelgard up in a little cocoon of blankets.

“I’m fine, I think I spent too long outside with a jacket. Nothing like some rest to make everything better.” Edelgard traded her cup of tea for the bowl of soup.

“Soup, then sleep.” Linhardt reminded her firmly.

He sat on the couch next her, and picked up his book. Every now and then he would glance over at her over the top of his book. In turn, she would pointedly look away from him, at her soup bowl, at Byleth puttering around the common room, helping put things away. She knew he was surreptitiously checking in on her but didn’t say anything further.

Eventually, the soup was finished and she trundled off to her room, the throw blanket still wrapped firmly around her. Linhardt watched her go. Despite her stubbornness, he knew that she would take care of herself. There was an unspoken understanding that having any one of their group members functioning at less than their best could potentially put the group in danger on their next heist. Plus, group morale would also be affected, maybe even group communication- there were a lot of little dynamics to consider. Edelgard was too smart of a leader to not understand that.

Speaking of functioning at less than their best, Linhardt zeroed in on his next target. Byleth was helping Caspar move some of his equipment. While she hadn’t had as big of a role as Edelgard for this job, she had still been working non-stop pretty much all day. Linhardt caught Caspar’s eye behind the large box he and Byleth were both carrying and gently shook his head.

Caspar tilted his head at him in confusion as they lowered the box to the ground.

Linhardt repeated the motion, and gestured at Byleth. 

“Hey, Byleth?” Caspar was still confused, his eyes never broke away from Linhardt’s.

“Yes, Caspar?”

“This is going to be the last box for tonight.” Caspar started, hesitantly. Linhardt nodded at him encouragingly, he never failed to understand Linhardt’s cues and unspoken words even if he was sometimes unsure. “We can finish everything else tomorrow morning.”

“Are you sure? If you tell me where things go, I can finish up.”

Caspar’s eyes widened a fraction in panic. Linhardt shot him an exasperated look. “Oh, uhm. No that’s okay. I have specific spots where everything should go. You should go eat.” He laughed sheepishly and scratched his head.

Byleth seemed to accept this and she wandered off to grab a bowl from Ferdinand- Caspar let out a sigh of relief. He collapsed onto the couch next to Linhardt with a wince.

Linhardt retrieved a bowl of soup from the kitchen and pressed it into Caspar’s hands. “Eat.”

Narrowing his eyes, he glanced around the common area, mentally checking off the whereabouts of the other Black Eagles. Almost all accounted for… except-“Petra, did you eat yet?” Linhardt’s voice was sharper than he intended, he disliked it when he had to raise his voice and also disliked it when the role of herding the group to take care of themselves fell on him- he did it without complaint though, especially when their fearless leader didn’t seem that fearless or leaderly at the moment.

Petra’s guilty expression popped up at the other end of the couch from where she had been trying to sneak unnoticed across the common room.

“I am not having hunger,” Petra replied, averting her gaze.

Linhardt glanced over at the kitchen, where Ferdinand not-so-subtly pushed two bowls of soup across the kitchen counter with a small smile on his face. “Dorothea hasn’t eaten yet either. Why don’t you bring her something to eat?”

Petra brightened considerably at the prospect, practically sprinting over to take the bowls from Ferdinand and disappearing down the hallway.

“Bernadetta has already eaten. I’m going to check on Hubert now.” Ferdinand picked up a bowl from the counter and a steaming mug.

“More coffee?” Linhardt frowned. He picked up Caspar’s now empty soup bowl and raised his eyebrows at the other man with an unsaid question. _More?_

Caspar shook his head with a small wince.

“No, it’s tea.” Ferdinand paused, turning over words in his head. “Something happened today. Both Edelgard and Hubert are acting strange.”

“Stranger than usual,” Caspar added. “When Petra and I met up with Edelgard to get rid of the van, it was like she was a zombie. Like she had seen something traumatic.” Caspar gave Linhardt a worried look and in response, Linhardt patted his hand gently with as much reassurance as he could muster.

“Hubert has thrown himself into his work- more so than usual. I’ll see if I can get him to at least get some sleep tonight.”

Linhardt hadn’t seen Hubert since he returned, so he couldn’t speak to their hacker’s current state but he knew Edelgard definitely was acting weird, stressed. Not to the same degree that Caspar had described but Edelgard had always been very good at hiding things- Linhardt thought about the multitude of surgical scars that covered her body that he had seen when he patched her up after a particularly nasty fight. Usually she insisted on taking care of herself while Linhardt patched everyone else up, but breaking your arm tended to remove that idea completely.

Instead she made him swear that he couldn’t tell anyone else in exchange for her coming to him anytime she had any medical or physical issue instead of hiding it or trying to take care of it herself. She didn’t explain the scars, nor did Linhardt ask. He had some ideas about what they were from though, but he didn’t want to pry too much. “Let me know if things get weirder. They’re all very private people so let’s respect their boundaries as best we can.” 

Ferdinand nodded and disappeared down the hall.

Linhardt looked down at Caspar. “Let’s get you checked out.”

  
  


* * *

  
  


“Lin?” Caspar’s voice was muffled. He was lying face-down on Linhardt’s bed, face buried in a pillow. Linhardt was carefully cleaning a series of scrapes that ran along his left arm and shoulder. Something about not managing to stick the roll after jumping off of the roof of one of the booths at the amusement park.

“Mhm?” Linhardt gently dabbed the scrape with a cotton ball covered in rubbing alcohol. 

“What’s up with everybody else?”

“I’m not sure what you mean, Caspar.”

“LIke why are they so complicated?” 

“We all have different pasts- some more difficult and traumatic than others.”

“No, I get that.” Caspar hissed as the alcohol seeped into a particularly difficult wound. “ I mean like, clearly some of them like each other. Why don’t they just, I dunno. Talk about it, get it together, and then get together? They just keep tiptoeing around each other, it’s frustrating.”

The cotton ball hovered in mid-air, just above Caspar’s skin. “It’s complicated, Caspar.”

“But it shouldn’t be! Look at us! Look at how easy it was for us to date!” Caspar twisted his head around so he could look LInhardt in the eye. He smiled at Linhardt. A gentle warmth filled Linhardt’s chest. Caspar’s straightforwardness and simplicity were some of Linhardt’s favourite traits- especially in a line of work like their own. It was easy to read Caspar, his thoughts went from point A to point B with no convulusions. No hiding, no plots. Linhardt had no doubts about Caspar’s feelings from the moment Caspar realized he had such feelings.

“We’re different. We were best friends before the Black Eagles and you wear your heart on your sleeve- it's never hard to tell what you’re thinking. Not everyone is like that though. They need to figure this out on their own. No meddling, please.” Linhardt resumed cleaning out the wound. He didn’t like seeing Caspar in pain, but he had to get the wound clean. The lesser of two evils, so to speak.

Caspar fell silent. It took a few more cotton balls before Linhardt was finally satisfied with his handy work. 

“Okay. Time to go to bed.”

“Lin, do you think that they’re afraid we’ll judge them for their relationship choices?”

Linhardt sighed. Looked like he wasn’t going to be able to wiggle his way out of the rest of this conversation. “No. I don’t think that’s the reason why.”

Caspar wasn’t really listening to him, “...Do you think that we should exhibit more signs of our relationship so that they’ll feel more comfortable?”

“I don’t see how PDA from us will help anything, Caspar.” Linhardt groaned. He began changing into one of Caspar’s old soccer jerseys from when he was still in school. By the time he finished changing, Caspar was out like a light. “Guess we’re sleeping in here tonight.”

* * *

Edelgard laid in the dark, just completely still underneath her covers for a while. Sleep wasn’t coming easy to her. Thoughts of Kronya kept flitting through her mind. Logically, she had always known that Kronya was still out there. She had known that before she started the Black Eagles. She also knew that she might cross paths with Kronya again. Even if she tried to live out a mundane, peaceful life, there was always this chance. There was nothing stopping such an event from happening. 

Perhaps it was wishful thinking to think that she would be better prepared for encountering anyone from her dark past. Hubert was unfortunately occupied tonight, running all kinds of traces and hacks, trying to figure things out. Edelgard knew that this was his way of coping- doing something productive about the unknown issues at hand, and she didn’t want to disturb him. He deserved to try to cope in his own ways as much as she did.

She was fortunate that she was able to escape the way she did tonight, backing out of the alleyway quietly while Monica and Kroyna were distracted. She wasn't sure how she was able to drive to the rendezvous point where she met up with Caspar and Petra. It was like her body went on autopilot, trying to preserve herself without her mind even being aware of it.

Running away seemed to a trend when it came to her past.

This was ridiculous, she told herself firmly. Kronya was just a person. A terrible person, yes. But a person who had no bearing in Edelgard’s life anymore. And said terrible person didn’t know where Edelgard currently was or what she was currently capable of. Just because the Black Eagles didn’t kill, didn’t mean that Edelgard wouldn’t if push came to shove. She took a deep breath, pushing that thought down. Hopefully it wouldn’t ever come to that.

She laid there in the dark some more. 

Edelgard didn’t remember falling asleep.

She only remembered the nightmare.

  
  


_“Do you miss me, Edie?”_

_The voice was barely above a whisper, but it still grated like glass against her skin._

_It was mostly dark. A fluorescent light flickered on and then off again, illuminating a sight that Edelgard was too familiar with. Polished white floors. Polished metal walls. Light. She could see her own distorted reflection. The fear on her face. The still red scars. The metal restraints. Darkness._

_Light. From the opposite side of the room this time. A figure strapped to a hospital bed with the same restraints that bound Edelgard to her prison._

_Dorothea._

_Pale. Slumped backward in the bed, limp like a forgotten puppet. But what haunted Edelgard the most were those empty, glassy eyes._

_She wasn’t supposed to be here. Why was she here? How did they capture her? What had they done to her?_

_“Dorothea! Dorothea! Wake up! You have to get out of here! You have to leave before, before-”_

_“Before what, Edie?”_

_That voice again. Nobody else used that nickname but Dorothea. But this was not Dorothea’s voice. Something was wrong. Something was very wrong._

_Sharp heels clicked on the floors. A second figure strode into the light. Orange hair so bright and so unnatural that it reminded Edelgard of a toxic chemical. Seeing the colour dredged up a deep sense of revulsion in Edelgard._

_Kronya._

_Her pale face split into a ghastly smile. Too wide. Too pointed. It felt like she would keep on smiling and smiling and smiling until her mouth split into a cavernous maw, ready to devour Edelgard._

_“You can’t save her, Edelgard. You are weak. You always were. Always will be. None of your precious little eagles are safe.” Kronya laid a bony hand on Dorothea’s shoulder. Her fingers too long, nails pointed like claws. Dorothea’s head slumped forwards._

_Edelgard struggled against her restraints, she wanted to get Dorothea away from Kronya's grasp. Dorothea’s form jerked like someone had pulsed thousands of volts of electricity through her. Slowly, she sat up. None of her usual grace and poise. It looked like she was being pulled into a sitting position by invisible strings. A puppet._

_It was unnatural the way that she moved, parts of her body moving all out of order until she was sitting upright. Slowly, like each individual vertebrae was being moved one at a time into place, her head lifted again._

_Her eyes were still dead._

_Her mouth split into a ghoulish grin that matched Kronya’s._

_“Your time is coming Edelgard.”_

_Edelgard screamed._

“Edelgard!” 

Edelgard’s eyes snapped open. She sat up, panting. Sweat covered every inch of her skin. Casting her eyes around her, she relaxed only marginally when she realized she was still in her room in the Black Eagles homebase.

“Are you okay?” bright blue eyes stared down at her, full of concern.

_Byleth._

Edelgard nodded. She didn’t trust her voice right now.

“I didn’t mean to come in without your permission but I heard noises and I thought you were in trouble. Is there anything I can do?” Byleth was standing over her, at her bedside, hands frozen mid-air, hovering over her awkwardly like she didn’t know if she should touch Edelgard or not. “Would you like me to leave?”

A pause. Edelgard patted the space on the bed next to her gently. Quietly, Byleth sat down on the covers. Just near enough so that her knee brushed gently against Edelgard’s leg. A reminder of her presence.

They sat like that for a few minutes, Edelgard staring down at her hands, twisting the sheets between her fingers, the sensation helping to ground her to reality. She knew Byleth was watching her carefully, quietly.

“I get nightmares sometimes,” Edelgard whispered.

“Oh.” Byleth nodded thoughtfully, “I get that. I used to get them a lot too. Is there anything I can to make you feel better? Do you want to talk about it?”

Edelgard shook her head. “Not right now. It’s still too fresh. I’ll be okay though. You should go back to sleep.”

“Come with me. I know just the thing.” Byleth was all smiles and warmth and Edelgard couldn’t help herself but be coaxed out of bed.

Blankets were gathered, and footsteps were light as they made their way out into the hallway. Guided by a messy mop of teal hair, Edelgard found herself on the roof of the building. She hadn’t been up here in a long time- she didn’t have any particular reason to be. But Bernadetta- or she assumed it was Bernadetta anyway, had turned the rooftop patio area into a bit of a greenhouse. Large metal frames held thick pieces of glass all around them, shielding the plants from the elements. A faint humming noise was traced to a series of devices placed around the perimeter of the rooftop that kept all the unwanted insects away- Caspar’s creation and Linhardt’s design. 

Plants filled every possible nook and cranny of the space. Some were elevated on shelves and planters, others sat in pots of all shapes and sizes. “Are these red carnations?” Edelgard gasped. There was a large pot of them on a workbench, like somebody was in the middle of tending to them and was interrupted. 

“Yes,” Byleth’s voice was quiet behind her.

Whirling around, Edelgard found Byleth looking straight at her, unblinkingly. A small nest of sorts had been formed on the ground. A bunch of cushions and sleeping bags had also been acquired, Edelgard had no idea where they came from. 

“I meant to give them to you, as a surprise.” Byleth almost seemed shy, but she didn’t break her eye contact with Edelgard.

“Oh. They’re my favourite flower. These are very beautiful.” Gently, she stroked one of the leaves. The cool leaf against her still sweaty fingers was a relief.

“I think they’ll grow really well on your windowsill,” Byleth beckoned her over, patting the space next to her. “We can move them later.”

It took her a few seconds to get comfortable among all the cushions and blankets. She sank into them, surprised at how cozy it all was. “Where did you get all this?”

“Sometimes I like to sleep under the stars.” Byleth replied, already leaning back into the mass of coziness behind her. “I really appreciate the room that you’ve given me. But sometimes being inside in the dark is just a little bit much. Whenever I get that feeling, I come up here.” 

In that moment, with her hair fanned out wildly around her in an ethereal teal halo, moonlight dancing across her skin, stars twinkling in her eyes, Edelgard thought that Byleth looked like a fantastical being come to life. With her strange mannerisms and odd ideas, it wouldn’t be too far off to imagine her as some otherworldly creature gracing the world with her presence. 

The sounds of munching roused her from her thoughts. Byleth paused, feeling Edelgard’s eyes on her, mid-chew of a mouth full of dried squid. She held up the open packet to Edelgard. “Squid?”

Edelgard scrunched up her face at it. Hesitantly, she took a small piece of it. It smelled strongly of fish but the way that Byleth smiled encouragingly at her pushed her to take a nibble.

“Oh. That’s actually quite good.” 

Byleth feigned offense at Edelgard’s surprise. “Of course! I have very good taste in snacks. But I also have a tun-a other snacks up here if you want something else.” 

Edelgard shook her head and accepted another fingerful of dried squid. She chose to ignore Byleth’s terrible fish pun. If she drew attention to it, Byleth would only make more and they would get even worse. 

They lapsed into silence, just staring at the night sky. Edelgard spoke first. “I love looking at the stars.”

Byleth made a noncommittal noise, punctuated by more chewing noises.

“The universe is so large and the stars so numerous and just looking at them reminds me how small we are.”

“We might be small but we aren’t powerless.”

Edelgard was the one who made the noncommittal noise now- not sure if she could believe it. 

They laid there silently, staring up at the night.

“You used to have nightmares?” 

“Yeah. After my dad died, everytime I would close my eyes, all I could see was his death.”

“And what made them go away?”

Byleth shrugged. “I got closure.” She didn’t say anything beyond that.

They continued to lay there in silence, basking in the starlight as the dried squid dwindled down to it's last few crumbs. Byleth drew a blanket tighter around Edelgard. She barely reacted, curling deeper into the nest. Sleep weighed heavily on her body, a heavy blanket brushed gently with the cool night air. 

With the starlight guiding her gently toward rest and a warmth against her side, Edelgard found sleep. 

* * *

  
  


It was warm. It was soft. It was like being wrapped up in a cocoon. She felt at peace, safe. 

Then her world shifted, slightly to the left. Her arm lifted up a little bit. 

That didn't make sense. 

Edelgard woke up to find herself curled around a sleepy but very bemused Byleth who was in the midst of carefully extricating herself from Edelgard's grip. She recoiled away from Byleth's side like the other woman was made of fire. 

"Any more nightmares?" Byleth yawned and stretched. The t-shirt that she wore to bed rode up with the motion, giving Edelgard a glimpse of her midriff and abs.

Hastily, Edelgard looked away. “No. I slept fine.” She felt better than she had in a while- aside from the lingering aftertaste of squid in her mouth.

“Do you still want to talk about it?” Byleth began packing up the materials of the nest, rolling up sleeping bags, folding blankets.

“Now’s not the time.” Edelgard didn’t really want to get into this right now, it would send her into a weird mood for the rest of the day. “Besides, we have to go see Flayn today.”

Byleth nodded, “Why don’t you go get get ready. I’m just about done here.”

Edelgard agreed and left to go shower. 

The stream of warm water felt heavenly against her skin, washing away all traces of the nightmare. Unfortunately, being still and alone in such a space meant that her mind tended to wander to things that she would rather not think about. Hurriedly, she finished getting ready and headed out to the common room, perhaps Hubert was ready to do their debriefing now before they went to see Flayn.

That was not the case. Instead, Edelgard found a bleary eyed Ferdinand, making breakfast in the kitchen. 

“He fell asleep at his desk.” Ferdinand mumbled as he slid a perfect bagel breakfast sandwich across the counter to her. “I figured we should give him a few more hours of beauty sleep first.” 

“Sounds good. Will you send Linhardt to check on him?” Edelgard took a bite of the sandwich. For all of his bragging, Ferdinand definitely made a mean breakfast sandwich. 

“You know he hates that.”

“And I know that you love pushing his buttons.”

They stared at each other from across the kitchen. Ferdinand’s ears were beginning to turn red. 

“Byleth is waiting for you downstairs.” Ferdinand turned away from Edelgard, refusing to give her the satisfaction of seeing the rest of his face go red.

* * *

  
  


They met Flayn in the same diner as last time. By the time they slid into the booth seat across from Flayn, she had finished one milkshake and was halfway through a second one.

She smiled at them. Nervous. Tired.

“Can I just get a cup of black tea?” Edelgard didn’t even bother to look at the menu.

“Is it too early for fish and chips?” Byleth asked nobody in particular.

The waitress shook her head. “We have fish and chips right available right now.”

“Fish and chips then. And an orange juice please.” The waitress nodded and then disappeared back into the kitchen.

Edelgard waited until she was out of sight before speaking to Flayn. “We come with a gift.” She retrieved the small bundle wrapped tightly in brown paper. “All that we ask is that you not open it until you are back in your room and to never let it out of your sight.”

Flayn’s hand trembled as she reached for the package, brown paper crinkling under her touch. “Is this?”

Byleth nodded warmly with a smile. “It is!” She leaned in and lowered her voice. “The police are going to contact you about recovering a lure as well. Just pretend you’ve never seen what we just gave you and the one that they’re going to return to you is real.” 

“But why?”

Edelgard shrugged, “Monica had one of the cops in her pocket. We decided not to chance our gift here disappearing in police custody. So we made a replica of it. That’s what they have right now, so even if it does go missing, it’s not a big deal for you.”

Thankfully, there was a table between them because it looked like Flayn wanted to lunge across the table and give Edelgard a big hug. Instead, she settled for a big teary-eyed smile. “Thank you so much! Both of you! If there’s ever anything you need, I will do everything in my power to help you!” 

The conversation paused as the waitress returned, arms ladened with food and drink. Byleth immediately shoved a handful of fries into her mouth.

“You can arrange to have one of these ‘ _gifts_ ’ sent to Byleth once you are able to safely and efficiently reproduce them, that is all I ask. I’m sure she would enjoy that.” Edelgard shrugged and took a sip of her tea. The strength of the tea left a bitter aftertaste in her mouth but Edelgard didn’t mind it.

Flayn looked surprised for a brief moment but recovered quickly with a brilliant megawatt smile that made Edelgard want to shield her eyes. “Of course! I think my dad would definitely agree with you on that.”

“And please be more careful in the future with who you trust. You may not be as fortunate next time.” 

Flayn only smiled wider. Even Byleth, mouth full of fries, was smiling at her. “You know, I thought you were really intimidating and professional at first, but you’re really nice. Like really really nice.”

Edelgard took another sip of her tea, “I have no idea what you are talking about.”

Still smiling brightly, Flayn turned her attention to Byleth. “I think you found a good one. I wholeheartedly approve.” 

Byleth mumbled something incomprehensible through her food and waved a hand at Flayn dismissively. 

They were close, Edelgard could tell that much. The gentle teasing and warm smiles reminded her of her own siblings, and how in times long dead, they would act much the same. Seeing the two of them banter now made Edelgard’s heart ache mutely. Her siblings were long gone, and everytime she thought that it stopped hurting to think of them, she was wrong all over again.

She thought about Byleth’s words from last night.

Maybe one day. Maybe she too could find closure.

* * *

  
  


Hubert woke from his slumber around noon. Most of the Black Eagles were gathered in the common area, just hanging out and taking some much needed time off. The rest of the cleanup had gone smoothly and there were just a few minor things left to do. 

Bernadetta was fussing over each member of the Black Eagles present in the common area- something about needing measurements so she could knit them hats and scarves. She was stress knitting, but after a heist, they were allowed their own ways of coping.

Byleth and Ferdinand were discussing the various ways of cooking different fish and which way would give the crispiest skin without ruining the soft internal fluffiness of the meat. Byleth was drawing some kind of a diagram for Ferdinand. 

Linhardt forced Hubert to drink what must have been close to a litre of water before he was allowed to even look at a cup of coffee. The presence of Byleth sitting nearby seemed to make him think twice about arguing. 

The look that Hubert gave Edelgard did nothing to assuage any of her worries. 

“What did you find?” Dorothea was lounging on the couch, idly braiding Petra’s hair. 

Hubert frowned. “The police have Monica. Things are progressing nicely over there. Our mysterious buyer on the other hand, we have identified her as Kronya...”

Edelgard steeled herself. Kronya was notoriously tricky, things were never simple or easy with her.

“... and she managed to evade the police.” Of course she did. The rest of the group voiced their disappointment as well. 

“Did you pick up anything on your parabolic mics?” Caspar kicked his feet up on the coffee table much to Linhardt’s disdain. 

“Yes.” Hubert looked over at Edelgard who nodded almost imperceptibly at him. He tapped a few buttons on his phone. 

The tinny voice of Monica filtered through the speakers. Edelgard rolled her eyes, she was tired of her already.

The second voice that joined her was just as terrible and grating as Edelgard both remembered and imagined. It made Edelgard’s skin crawl as the voice washed over her like a plague of insects.

She couldn't even focus on what Kronya was saying. All she could hear were the echoes of that nightmarish mix of Dorothea and Kronya chanting her name. 

A sharp jerking motion to her left brought her out of her head. There was a sharp crack and Edelgard caught a glimpse of several pieces of broken pencil being stuffed into Byleth's pocket.

Byleth's face was largely unreadable, clear of any expression, but Edelgard had spent enough time by now trying to understand what went on in Byleth’s head that she was able to catch a glimpse of feelings behind the windows that were her eyes. She missed the first few emotions and thoughts that skimmed lightly across Byleth’s mind. The next few came in a jumbled mess, tripping over each other in a fight to be the loudest, to be felt first, slamming violently against the glassy shine of those bright blue eyes. 

Confusion. 

Realization. 

Denial. 

_Horror._

Without another word, Byleth stumbled to her feet and rushed out of the common area, leaving the rest of the Black Eagles staring after her and at each other in shock. After a brief moment, Edelgard found their gazes all rested on her. 

"Let's give her some space first." Edelgard decided. While Kronya tended to strike fear into the hearts of many people, she didn’t expect such a strong reaction from Byleth. And the manner that she reacted was a bit of a shock for Edelgard as well.

What happened to Byleth?

_What had Kronya done?_

* * *

  
  


Byleth didn't turn up for dinner.

The other members of the group kept looking at her door expectantly, as if she would suddenly appear in her usual odd manner and join them at the table. Even Hubert, who gave Edelgard a pointed look over his forkful of pasta, seemed particularly tense.

Their resident hacker had offered to go digging for things on Kronya and Byleth but Edelgard forbade him from doing so. It felt so wrong to go prying into Byleth's past without her knowing or consent. Edelgard had done unspeakable things in the past, but this felt like too much. Maybe it was because she wasn't the Edelgard of the past. (She wondered how much she had really changed and if maybe, just maybe, any of those changes even made a difference.) Or maybe because it was Byleth- she did seem to have a way of breaking through all the walls and protocols Edelgard placed carefully around herself. 

It wasn't until some time after dinner, when it became quite evident that Byleth wasn't going to come out of her room, Edelgard collected a plate of food and brought it to Byleth's door.

Edelgard pressed her ear against the door, trying to pick up on any movement on the other side. Maybe Byleth was asleep- she didn’t want to wake her in that case.

There was faint murmuring- repeated like a mantra. Edelgard couldn't make out all of the words. All she managed to pick up was "...who did I kill… this can't be right… who did I kill." 

Edelgard didn’t like that. Even through the murmuring, Edelgard could sense Byleth was suffering.

She knocked on the door lightly. 

The murmuring fell silent. No response beyond that. 

She knocked again, louder. 

Still nothing. 

“Byleth. I have some food here for you. I'm just going to leave it at your door. You should try to eat something. If you need anything else, well my door is always open." 

More silence. 

Edelgard sighed, set the tray of food down by the door and headed to her room. She left her room door wide open as an invitation to Byleth, just in case. It was difficult to get any other work done- her mind ran in circles. Kronya had been quiet for the last few years. Edelgard had just assumed she had moved on to other work or other places. It certainly looked like she had diversified since- Edelgard didn’t know what a blood-thirsty assassin would be doing with a fishing lure, no matter how groundbreaking- waterbreaking?- Edelgard groaned, her thoughts had doubled back around in the dumbest of ways to Byleth.

She wondered what Byleth was doing right now. What she was thinking. What did she mean when she said those words? 

_Who did I kill?_

Who was she referring to? Byleth, herself? The Ashen Demon? If Edelgard recalled correctly, the Ashen Demon had a long list of kills attached to the name, maybe one of those contracts? 

There were so many questions. Edelgard didn’t have any answers.

* * *

  
  


_/ B:We need to talk_

_/ B:ASAP_

_/ B: ???_

_/ B:Hello?_

_/ B: We need to talk. This is urgent_

_/ B: It’s about my dad._

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay Kronya! 
> 
> Secrets are coming to light! and the Eagles are trying to deal with it.
> 
> I originally wanted to try to write this whole chapter from Linhardt's perspective and title the chapter Linhardt but I felt like this was more of Edelgard's chapter still. Also a cute lil Caspar and Linhardt scene there to help balance out the terribleness of Kronya. 
> 
> As always, your comments and kudos are greatly appreciated. Thank you for reading! Feel free to yell about things with me in the comments or on twitter at bardigrade? 
> 
> Please stay safe out there! See you next week!


	9. Byleth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Byleth tries to sort through things on her on.
> 
> The Black Eagles try their best to help.

* * *

Byleth didn’t come out of her room the next morning. Or the morning after that. Or the morning after that. Almost a week went by.

Food and drink went practically untouched.

It was hard to tell if she was even really in the room.

The rest of the Black Eagles were beginning to worry. They were still hesitant to intrude on Byleth’s space, tiptoeing around her like she was made of the daintiest crystals, ready to shatter if they didn’t handle her properly. Knocks went unanswered, questions ignored. At this point, Linhardt was ready to have Caspar tear down the door. 

“Byleth, if you do not open this door. I am going to throw out all the fish in the kitchen. We will eat nothing but Caspar’s creations for the next month.” 

“T-That feels like it's more of a punishment for us than for her,” Bernadetta whispered to Ferdinand, whose face was aghast at the thought of Caspar cooking for them for the next month. 

“Byleth, if you are not having good feelings, we can fight. I am having better feelings after I fight.” Petra was helpfully leaning over Linhardt’s shoulder, crowding around the doorway.

“I’m not sure that I can condone fighting your feelings away but if you ever need an ear, or two, or three, or four, many of us are excellent listeners. And not just because of what we do.” Dorothea placed a gentle hand on Petra’s shoulder. She caught Edelgard’s eye from across the hallway. They exchanged concerned looks.

“Alright, let’s give her space. _More space_.” Dorothea began ushering the other Eagles away from Byleth’s door. 

Linhardt opened his mouth to argue, but immediately closed it again when Dorothea shot him a withering glare and jerked her head over at Edelgard. Their resident medic understood and grumpily went about leading Caspar and Bernadetta away.

Hubert paused as Dorothea moved in front of him. The look he gave Edelgard spoke volumes.

_Only you can talk some sense into her._

Once the hallway was clear, and the Black Eagles were seemingly out of earshot- Hubert, thank the goddess for that man’s good sense, had started playing some kind of lo-fi video game music soundtrack loudly over the common area speakers, Edelgard moved to Byleth’s door. She flattened herself against the door, pressing her ear against it, hoping to catch any sound of Byleth’s presence. 

Nothing. Almost like a void had just opened on the other side.

“Byleth. I know you’re in there. I don’t know what you’re thinking, not eating anything or drinking anything. I don’t know what’s happened to you, in the past or in this last little while. But it feels like you’re hiding? I understand if you need the time and space for yourself to figure stuff out. But I know you can hear me, you can hear the rest of the Black Eagles, so you know that we’re all very worried about you. We all care about you. And when you’re ready, you or If you need anything, we’re all here. My door is always open for you.”

Edelgard paused. It felt weird to be talking to herself even though she knew that she was talking to Byleth. She pushed onwards anyway. 

“I don’t know what’s happening in there, Byleth. And I don’t know how you cope best, but you should take care of yourself. Do what you need to get back to the best you that you can be, the you that we all know.” _And love._ Edelgard couldn’t bring herself to quite say those words though. They got caught somewhere in her throat. There was a lot to unpack in those words. How did she mean it? Perhaps now wasn’t the best time for that. “Byleth. Do what you need to. We’ll be waiting for you.”

Edelgard turned sharply and retreated back to her own room. There were a lot of things she needed to think about. Clearly things were beyond mere infatuation between her and Byleth. She just needed to figure out what exactly, and what that meant for her.

* * *

_// A: Sorry! :( I was in the middle of a job. I always have time for you but I’m just a little bit busy right now! My apologies! <3 _

_// B: We need to talk. I discovered something_

_// A: I can come find you as soon as I am finished_

_// B: You know as well as I do that you could take weeks or months. I don’t have that long._

_// A: I will do my best to meet you in a timely manner_

_// A: Where are you now?_

_// B: Derdriu. I don’t know how long I will stay in Derdriu though._

_// A: Worry not! It doesn’t matter if you stay Der(driu) or go, I will be able to find you no matter where you are! :D_

_// B: Who killed my dad?_

_// A: ...We dealt with this already. You dealt with this already._

_// B: We didn’t deal with this completely. Where did you get your intel from?_

_// A: You know that I can’t give my contacts up. And certainly not over messaging._

_// B: I ran into my dad’s killer the other day._

_// A: … I thought you had dealt with this._

_// B: I will never forget that voice. I am 100% certain that it is them. They are alive._

_// A: I don’t know what to say_

_// B: Who did I kill?_

  
  


Byleth dropped her phone back into her duffel bag. It was an old thing that she had kept from a long time ago. Hubert would probably disapprove of it but she didn’t care about Hubert right now. It was the only device that still linked her to some of the other mercenaries in her past life. Her other family. She wondered if she ought to feel bad about leaving them behind. Did she really deserve this second chance with the Black Eagles if she had left her first family behind of her own selfish volition? For the last little while she had felt a strange sense of freedom- a strange sense of freedom in having a goal, a purpose.

She reached into the secret pocket of the duffle bag and pulled out the only other item that lived in there. 

A broken and charred mask stared back at her, the once gleaming white metal now marred by deep gouges and jagged edges. In the past, the mask had brought her a strange sense of finality, that things were finished, she could close that door. The empty eyes of the mask were a reminder that the past was dead and gone. Now they seemed to burn with a fire, accusing her, branding her with the horror that she had failed. All of her closure was built on the corpse of a lie. It was crumbling. _She_ was crumbling.

She could almost smell the fire and fuel in the air, the burning flesh. The roaring fire that she let consume her past. Ironic that it ended in fire, she thought, looking down at the remainders of the mask. The red flame like design covered the majority of the mangled mask whereas in the past, it would have only taken up less than half the space- the destruction of the other half and the heavy suit of tactical body armour supported by a robotic exoskeleton and person it was attached to was the Ashen Demon’s work. You could even say, her life led up to this very job, considering this was her very last job before the Ashen Demon officially retired.

_The Flame Emperor._

The title pushed through the dark waters that were her memories, unbidden. The only name to a figure that she knew only through death. Two deaths. Her dad’s, and then the Flame Emperor themselves. 

The Flame Emperor had killed her dad. 

Or so she had thought. So she had been told.

Hearing Kronya’s voice, she was certain that it was Kronya who had killed her dad. She would recognize that voice anywhere, and Kronya was still very much alive. Hearing Kronya’s voice brought her back to that moment- the concrete pinning her into the rubble, rebar digging into her ribs. She couldn’t move, trapped in a prison of broken structures and crumbling foundations, all she could do was listen to that voice- Kronya, kill her father.

Kronya killed her father.

Then who did she kill? Who was the Flame Emperor? The intel she had received had detailed that the Flame Emperor killed her father. That was the intel that she acted on. She was certain the Flame Emperor was dead. She made sure of it. 

But Kronya was the one who killed her father.

There were too many questions. Too many thoughts. Too many feelings. Byleth didn’t have the capacity to process any of it.

The broken edges dug into her palm, grinding sharply against the splinters of pencil and dried over scabs from the day before, the flash of pain pulling her from her thoughts- she glanced over at the phone Hubert gave her, still charging on her nightstand, no, that was three, no five days ago. 

_That was five days ago._

The last five days have felt like a year compressed down to a minute. It felt like the seconds dragged on and on but in the blink of an eye, they were gone. Byleth knew that at some point she had cried and cried, until she couldn’t cry anymore, pillow nearly waterlogged- heavy with the weight of her failure. She could still feel the dried tear tracks on her face as she rubbed her eyes now. Her anger and guilt ebbed and drifted in her chest, leaving her feeling empty.

She also knew that she was going to have to get her hand checked out. Aside from the splinters and scabs, a series of nasty bruises covered the knuckles of her right hand. The swelling made it difficult to text. Also, she had cracked the bed frame with the force of her anger. Like if she could channel all of her anger to her fist and then outward she wouldn’t feel so angry at herself for failing. She had one job. Kill whoever killed her father. She couldn’t even accomplish that.

Her old phone buzzed again. She tossed the remnants of her failure into the hidden compartment again.

_// A: I’m sorry. I will do my best to find answers while I am away. I will join up with you once I am finished and have some answers._

Byleth was about to toss the phone onto the floor in another burst of strong emotion, she didn’t have the wherewithal to try to identify what it was that she was feeling when a sharp pain lanced through her chest. Wincing, she clutched at her shirt, her chest, her heart. This had never happened before. What was happening?

But as quickly as it came, it faded into a muted pulse just under the surface of her skin, settling in next to the swirling mess of emotion in her chest. With a groan, she fell back across the bed. When had she become so sticky? So sweaty? She blinked the few droplets of sweat out of her eyes. They stung.

She stung.

Everything was a big ball of emotions and pain and Byleth wanted nothing more than to sleep for a thousand years, or maybe just five years. 

_Deep breaths._

She could handle this.

Another buzz. Carefully, she leaned back in her bed and checked the phone, as if any sudden motion would lead to an encore performance of the cutting pain in her chest.

_// A: If you are feeling what I think you are feeling right now- and if this is going to be anything like what happened after your dad, you cannot be alone right now. I am sorry I cannot be at your side during this time. Do you have someone else with you that you can be with? I can contact JS for you_

_// B: I hate that she took that name_

_// A: Yeah, she hates it too but I think it's her way of keeping the memory of your father alive. I also considered changing my own name in his honour!_

_// A: I must go now! Duty calls! But would you like me to contact her? You should not be alone._

Byleth paused, thinking. She had heard the other Black Eagles through the door earlier. Their concern was palpable, wrapping around her in the darkness like a warm blanket. A small boat in a tossing ocean where the waves threatened to overwhelm her. 

They must be worried about her.

They cared about her.

She cared about them too. 

All the silly shenanigans they got up to- hiding Hubert’s favourite coffee tankard or turning the pages of the book in Linhardt’s lap when he fell asleep while reading. Quiet afternoons with Bernadetta, gardening or just keeping her company while she worked on her latest artistic creation. Even trying on different outfits with Dorothea and Ferdinand was surprisingly enjoyable.

Sure. being around them was new and fun and all together a good time but there was something more than that. Something more to that. Try as she might, Byleth didn’t know what _that_ was or what the something more was either. But for the first time in a very long time, it felt like this was where she was supposed to be, not aimlessly wandering, not struggling to find something to do with herself.

Of course, there was also Edelgard.

There was no denying that there was something else between them. Something different. Something _more_? Byleth didn’t quite understand all of it, but she would like to figure it out, understand things, understand herself better at least.

She didn’t know if she deserved them, this second chance, but she was willing to find out.

Byleth tapped out a response.

_// B: I’m not alone._

* * *

A knock at Edelgard’s door startled her. She wasn’t expecting anybody this late. Hubert had been sent away hours ago with a stern warning that she would confiscate his computers if he didn’t go to sleep. Surprised, she turned away from the pot of red carnations that she had been gently fussing over on her window sill and found a very haggard looking Byleth hovering at her door, half of her form tucked away into the hallway- she was still hiding but trying her best to fight it. 

“Byleth.” Edelgard breathed out, simultaneously worried and relieved.

The other woman smiled hesitantly, but it felt forced, like she was just making the motion to try to assuage Edelgard’s worries. It didn’t help at all. 

“I don’t think I should be alone right now.” she paused, mulling over something in her head. “No, no that came out wrong. I do not want to be alone right now.” She opened and closed her mouth a few times but no more words came out. 

“I’ll join you. Do you want to go to the rooftop?” Edelgard got up from her chair, and pulled the blankets from her bed.

Byleth nodded mutely. 

“Okay, Are you hungry? No, forget that question. You haven’t eaten properly in five days, I’m getting you something to eat. Why don’t you go up and get comfortable? I’ll be there shortly, okay?” 

Byleth nodded again and turned stiffly on her heel. She disappeared into the hallway. 

By the time Edelgard got up to the roof with her collected items, Byleth was in the middle of her pile of cushions and blankets and sleeping bags. Carefully, Edelgard settled into the space next to Byleth, a tray of food and drink balanced amongst the blankets in her arms. In the moonlight, it was hard to see much detail- Edelgard couldn’t fully assess the state of the woman beside her. Byleth was hard enough to read on a good day, never mind when the shadows concealed so much. 

Byleth dug into the reheated bowl of dumplings with much gusto- good thing Edelgard decided to heat up more than one portion. She was angled in such a way that Edelgard could only see the left side of her- but the left side was enough. 

There was a weariness that seeped from her very being. So much so that Edelgard didn’t quite know what to make of it. This last incident coupled with Byleth’s previous incident mere weeks ago did not bode well with Edelgard. It was becoming increasingly difficult to tell how she could best help Byleth.

“Do you think you could just talk to me while I eat? Is that weird?” Byleth was looking at her, head tilted to the side.

“No, that’s not weird. I understand. Did you have a topic in mind or is it okay if I just say whatever comes to mind? Fish facts? Sea creature facts?” Edelgard had a sense of what Byleth was thinking though. In the past, Edelgard also found it helpful to have someone talk at her for a while, something where her brain didn’t really have to process and try to respond like a proper conversation. Just the sound of someone else’s voice was soothing- a reminder that she wasn’t alone, and it also gave her something to focus on besides the swirling thoughts in her own head.

“N’thing’s fine.” Byleth mumbled, another dumpling down. Judging by the way that she slurped the dumplings from the plate with little grace, she must’ve been really hungry. She washed the food down with a gulp of orange juice.

“Did you know that more people get killed by vending machines than sharks every year? Vending machines are so top-heavy that they end up just tipping over on some person who’s probably shaking it just trying to their stupid bag chips which got stuck in the machine. I’m surprised they haven’t secured the machines better. Also sharks don’t have an air-bladder? And their bones are all made of cartilage which is kind of interesting. But this means that they have to keep moving all the time which must be so tiring, or they’ll sink.” 

Byleth continued chewing, as Edelgard rattled off the rest of the little tidbits of sea-life related facts that she knew. Did she look up a bunch of random fish information one night long after everyone else went to bed? Perhaps. Perhaps she wanted to see what the big deal was. Perhaps she wanted to know why in the name of the goddess did Byleth like fishing so much. It didn’t really answer her question but it her excellent memory meant she had a little hand stash of obscure facts to draw from- one which was running dry quite rapidly.

Unwilling to let Byleth down now, she switched over to a different topic. “Did you know that there is a special kind of paint that’s made in Derdriu. It’s rumoured to be the goldest gold paint that has ever been made without using any actual gold. Unfortunately as with all interesting and new things. There’s a very limited amount of it, thank the goddess, could you imagine that havoc it would wreak if you could just go out and buy a bucket of it? A lot of people would like to get their hands on something like that. You just slather some worthless thing in this gold paint and get people to pay a fortune for it.”

The things Bernadetta could do with that paint. The things that the Black Eagles could do. 

Edelgard looked up to meet Byleth’s bright blue eyes. She looked a lot better now that she had some food in her. The empty dishes were set to the side and Byleth leaned back in the pile of blankets, curling in on herself.

“You doing okay?” Edelgard asked softly. She wanted to reach out and pat Byleth’s arm reassuringly, but pulled away at the last second, masking the motion by putting her hand down and leaning back on her arms.

“I’ve been better.” 

“You wanna talk about it?”

“How much do you know about that other woman? The one pulling Monica’s strings?”

“Kronya?”

Edelgard was unsure what Byleth’s history with Kronya was. The rest of the Black Eagles were reasonably well-informed now on Kronya- largely so they knew what to keep an eye out for in the streets (Edelgard didn’t know if Kronya knew they knew about her and wouldn’t put it past her to make a move on the Black Eagles if that was the case). 

“Kronya.” Byleth affirmed. She said the name slowly like she was trying out the way the name sounded in her mouth, like she finally had a name to say. The venom in her tone was clear.

“Do you know her?” 

Byleth fell silent, puzzling over Edelgard’s question for a moment. Edelgard let her, she didn’t want to rush whatever Byleth had going on in her head. After a long moment, Byleth finally spoke up, “I don’t have all the answers yet. But I’m certain she was the one who killed my father.”

Edelgard sucked in a sharp breath. She expected something like this but at the same time the revelation stunned her all the same. “I’m sorry, Byleth.” Even as she said the words, she could feel Byleth tense next to her, freezing in place as all of her joints and muscles locked. “Hey, hey. Breathe. You’re okay. Breathe.”

Byleth took a shuddering breath. And then another. And another. When she spoke up again, her voice was steady. “It’s okay. It’s not your fault."

She took another deep breath, "I just know that it was her. And I’m sorry that I can’t tell you any more. But I don’t have everything together yet. I don’t have all the answers yet.” Byleth looked up at the sky, her eyes glittered with unshed tears. 

“You don’t need to have all the answers. But thank you for telling me this, I know it can’t have been easy.” This time Edelgard did reach out and gently laid a hand on Byleth’s shoulder. She patted it awkwardly, immediately regretting her choices. “Do you want me to have Hubert look into it?” Edelgard knew Kronya had a long list of deaths attached to her name. She was a prolific assassin and cold-blooded murderer, the list of people she killed could go on for ages- and those were the kills that she openly claimed credit and payment for. But if anybody could dig up some more information, it was Hubert.

Byleth shook her head. “I have some contacts from back in the day. They helped me look into my father’s death back then. I would like some answers from them before anything else. I will tell you one day. I just need some time to gather all the facts for myself first.”

Frowning, Edelgard chewed her bottom lip, trying to get a read on the half of Byleth’s face that was currently visible to her. “Do you need some time away?”

Byleth shook her head even more vigorously than before. “No. I’d rather not. It’ll be some time before I can get some answers. I think it would be better if we just continued doing what we were doing. Distractions help.” 

Edelgard let out a breath that she didn’t even know she was holding. She half-expected Byleth to disappear, that she would wake up in the morning by herself on the rooftop like some strange fever dream. “I can definitely help with that.” They had travelled to Derdriu for a reason. Derdriu had many a shiny and rare item, ripe for the picking.

Byleth yawned, now well fed and watered, her body was demanding other things of her. It didn’t seem she had gotten much sleep despite being cooped up in her room for so long. Edelgard could tell by the way that her eyelids were drooping that she was really exhausted. “Go to sleep Byleth, you need the rest.” 

Her words made Byleth curl in on her side even tighter. Gingerly, Edelgard drew a blanket around Byleth’s shoulders and made a move to take the dishes back downstairs. A gentle hand on her wrist stopped her.

“Stay?” Byleth never seemed so small before, voice barely above a whisper- full of an anxious hope hidden within a layer of fear, of disappointment. Edelgard wondered if she was even fully aware of what she was doing. She seemed so vulnerable in the moment that it was hard to think she was fully conscious of her decisions.

Edelgard settled back down next to Byleth. “Of course.” Even then, Byleth didn’t let go of her wrist, drawing Edelgard’s arm around her curled form like a blanket. Edelgard was glad that Byleth was turned away from her, form buried under the mass of blankets. She didn’t want her to see the rising blush that Edelgard was fighting to keep from overwhelming her.

They fell asleep that way.

* * *

  
  


Edelgard woke up before Byleth this time. She hadn’t slept well for the last few nights- nightmares weren’t the reason why though, worry over Byleth was, and she would stay up way too late thinking and overthinking and then underthinking until a dreamless sleep finally swept her into the darkness. Often, she woke up more tired than she felt when she fell asleep. To feel pretty well rested right now was a big improvement.

She was still wrapped around Byleth’s still sleeping form. Fortunately, nobody was around to witness how nicely Byleth fit against the curve of Edelgard’s body and how warm she was, her head tucked snugly under Edelgard’s chin. She wondered when she had become like this. When she had started doing things like this. When she had let someone in this close. When she had let _Byleth_ in this close- or perhaps Byleth let _her_ in this close. 

Maybe another five minutes of sleep wouldn’t hurt. Nobody else would know. She could blame it on the cold briskness of the morning and the tiredness of the day before. Secure in her wall of excuses, Edelgard settled back into the covers. 

A sight made her freeze though, eyes snapping wide open. 

Byleth’s right hand rested on top of the pillows, looking absolutely mangled. 

It all made sense, Byleth’s strange hesitance the night before and the strange way that she kept angling away from Edelgard.

The noise of absolute outrage and dismay Edelgard made in light of this discovery woke the entire base up. 

Ten minutes later, a still sleepy and very ashamed Byleth sat in the middle of the common room surrounded by the rest of the Eagles. 

Edelgard had tried to offer Byleth a way out of facing the other Eagles on the way downstairs, giving her ample time and space to escape back to her room. But Byleth sat herself in the middle of the common room and allowed the cautious Eagles to flock to her. She pulled Edelgard down next to her on the couch, their knees knocking into each other. It wasn’t like she was using Edelgard’s presence as a shield to hide behind- if she wanted to hide she would’ve retreated to her room, it was more like she was using Edelgard’s presence as a life raft to keep from being overwhelmed.

Byleth was tense, akin to the feeling of a child waiting in the principal’s office. Edelgard could see the thoughts and anxieties whirling in Byleth’s mind, but she was determined to do this. If she was determined, then Edelgard would do everything she could to help her.

Hubert was first, grumpily appearing from the darkness of his room with a similarly dark robe on. One look at Byleth’s hand and the look on Edelgard’s face had him disappear into the hallway and reappear with a very harried Linhardt.

Linhardt said nothing as he got to work, icing the ham that was Byleth’s hand and carefully picking out bits of pencil from her palm, cleaning the cuts- the disapproving look on his face was enough to communicate his displeasure and concern. 

Ferdinand appeared next. The smell and sounds of breakfast cooking followed him shortly after like a shadow. He popped up behind Byleth long enough to press a glass of chocolate milk with a blue bendy straw twisted into the shape of a fish. Edelgard had witnessed him return from the grocery store with a couple of them in his hands a day into Byleth’s self imposed isolation. Something about drinking from straws making everything better- and they were reusable, as Ferdinand proudly announced.

Caspar was a blur of green of activity- running from the common area to some other lower floor, much to everyone’s confusion, and returned, flopping into the couch across from Byleth with a tired grin, smelling like gasoline. “Tank’s full if you need a ride.” He gave Byleth a thumbs up. He looked so pleased with himself that Edelgard decided not to mention that it was probably a bad idea for Byleth to be riding her motorbike with her hand in this condition.

Dorothea cautiously approached, Petra hot on her heels, as if gauging if her presence would be wanted or not. But seeing how the other Eagles had already gathered, she strode confidently to the couch, sitting down next to Caspar. Someone must have messaged them with updates on the situation as both of them arrived carrying bundles in their arms. Petra set hers on the coffee table in front of Byleth first, a pile of freshly washed bed sheets, towels and other linens. “I am always having found that fresh laundry is making me have better feelings.”

Byleth smiled gently at Petra- some of the tension that coiled in Petra’s lithe form dispersing at the small action. 

“I have brought something also fitting,” Dorothea’s expression was the opposite of Petra’s bashful one- all coy smiles and a faint smirk that Edelgard knew was directed at her. A pile of neatly folded clothes was placed on the table next to Petra’s offering. “It’s going to be a hassle changing clothes with your hand like that. I have a selection of sleeveless shirts for you.” 

Byleth’s eyes lit up at the sight of some of the patterns on the clothes Dorothea laid out. The knowing look that Edelgard received from Dorothea was full of satisfaction of pride. Not pride for Dorothea, but pride for Edelgard. It left Edelgard feeling warm and a little bit confused, but she met Dorothea’s look with a slight nod.

Bernadetta popped out of her room briefly. She took one look at Byleth’s hand and vanished back into her room, only to reappear on the floor between Dorothea and Caspar’s knees, knitting supplies in hand. Edelgard knew that Bernadetta had been working on this particular project all week. The shy girl didn’t say a word, her nearly finished project quickly, purl by purl, grew into a hand-knitted fish, accented by the rapid clicking of her knitting needles. The flat looking blue fish quickly plumped up with the ice pack and slid underneath Byleth’s swollen fist.

The group fell into silence, all watching Byleth like she might flee back to her room. Byleth finished her chocolate milk, loud slurping noises and all, to get those last few drops at the bottom of her glass. Linhardt finished wrapping up Byleth’s hand with gauze. He glared at Byleth, displeasure evident on his face.

Still silent, he gestured for Edelgard to approach him. Confused, she did, nearly falling into Byleth’s lap as she crossed over Byleth’s legs in the cramped space between the couch and the coffee table. She barely had time to right herself as Linhardt grabbed her and sat her down on Byleth’s other side. 

“I need her to keep her hand elevated.” Linhardt told her tiredly. He propped Byleth’s elbow up on the back of the couch behind Edelgard and set her wrist with the knitted fish ice pack on Edelgard’s far shoulder so that she effectively had her arm around Edelgard’s shoulders.

Edelgard opened her mouth to argue about how unnecessary and seemingly inappropriate this was but Linhardt’s stern and tired look made her mouth snap shut. The warm presence of Byleth leaning into the couch and into her side certainly didn’t help matters.

Breakfast sandwiches were made and enjoyed, coffee and tea made their rounds, though Edelgard couldn’t really taste much else other than the warmth diffusing across her side, her thoughts too busy with the arm around her shoulders and the glances _all_ the Eagles were shooting each other.

Byleth cleared her throat awkwardly as she finished her sandwich, wiping greasy fingers on a napkin on her lap. “I would just like to apologize for my behaviour for the last uh week.” Edelgard could feel her entire body tense around her.

The Black Eagles remained silent for a beat, looking at each other, egging each other on to be the first to break the silence. It ended up on Hubert. The entire group stared at their unofficial second in command. Edelgard saw Dorothea try to speak up a few times but ended up shaking her head. 

“It’s alright.” Hubert grumbled. “I think we all understand if you need some space to yourself. We just ask you to maybe give any one of us a heads up so that we don’t worry- of course in saying that, you should also take care of yourself.” Hubert's cheeks were pink, staring deeply into his cup of coffee.

The group nodded in agreement.

“I owe you all an explanation.” Byleth sighed.

“Y-you don’t have to if you don’t want to.” Bernadetta squeaked. 

“No, no. It was childish of me to hide in my room for so long without explanation. I apologize for that, I will do my best to handle things more maturely from now on- especially since I now have all you to be accountable to.” 

“I think you’re doing a pretty bang up job being mature right now!” Caspar grinned, a chocolate milk moustache dripped from his upper lip.

“I think you could learn a thing or two from her,” Linhardt sighed and handed the other man a napkin.

“We’ll do our best to help you if you need anything, Byleth. You’re part of the Black Eagles. We take care of each other.” Ferdinand piped up. He looked much better now that Byleth had returned to the open. Earlier in the week he was a tangled mess of worrying and stress, wondering if something he had done had caused Byleth to hide.

“I can’t ask that of you. Not right now. I need to figure things out myself first. It would be irresponsible of me to drag you all into this mess without having any idea of what the mess is and what I want out of the mess. So I ask that you give me some time to do so before we do anything about it.” 

Edelgard could feel Byleth’s hand flexing and tensing on her shoulder. Casually sipping her tea, Edelgard leaned back into the couch, into the crook of Byleth’s arm. Her left arm disappeared behind Byleth’s back, gently, she rested her hand on the small of Byleth’s back, gently rubbing circles there, hidden by various couch cushions.

Byleth took a deep breath, drawing strength from Edelgard’s presence at her side, and from the warm concern of the Eagles around her. “Kronya killed my father.”

Like Edelgard was the night before, the Eagles were also stunned by this revelation.

“Kronya? Like Monica’s mysterious puppet master?” Caspar asked in disbelief. Dorothea smacked his knee, annoyed at his lack of tact.

Hubert frowned at Edelgard, the furrows on his brow deepening. Edelgard knew his mind was whirring, already thinking of different things to do to dig up information. She shook her head at him slightly. They had to respect Byleth’s decision and privacy. Byleth would come to them once she had sorted things out for herself.

Byleth nodded. “I am certain that she was the one behind his death. But it will be some time before I have my questions answered.”

“I am having many apologies to hear of this. Are you having need anything?” Petra spoke up quietly. In her stress, she began folding and refolding the various linens and clothes on the coffee table, turning everything into neat rectangles of the same size.

Byleth brightened, nodding vigorously. “I’d like it if we could go back to our normal? I need some time to process things of course but I think having a distraction would be nice.”

“Is she asking for a heist?” Ferdinand was smiling broadly now.

“I think she is, Ferdie!” The mood was infectious apparently, even Edelgard found the corners of her mouth quirk upwards.

“W-who’s turn is it to pick our next target?” Bernadetta looked around at everyone in surprise.

“Me! It’s me!” Caspar was out of his seat excitedly, fumbling for his phone. 

Linhardt groaned in response. “It feels like it was Caspar’s turn to pick our target just yesterday.”

Hubert grumbled as he took Caspar’s phone, a few taps later, a very ornate, very sparkly, very covered in gold door?- was up on the large screen.

“Behold! The Great Hero King’s Emblem!” Caspar gestured grandly at the screen, practically jumping up and down with how excited he was. 

A handful of large gemstones of varying colours were laid into the detailed gold-work. Other designs and artwork decorated the imposing piece.

Everyone stared at the screen.

“Caspar?” Dorothea asked. “Isn't that somebody's front door?” 

“Yup!” Caspar grinned broadly. 

Edelgard groaned. 

_How in the name of the goddess were they going to steal this?_

_Where were they going to put this?_

Byleth smiled, “That’s perfect. Let’s go steal us a front door!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oof. That was a big chapter. I think I wrote it in one sitting. But I've been sitting on this one for a while now and I just really wanted it out there.
> 
> There's a lot of goodies in this one though! hehehe I have been waiting SO LONG.
> 
> I tried really hard to avoid making this an 'idiot plot' where Byleth and Edelgard won't talk to each other at all and that's where the conflict stems from? At least, I don't think Byleth would do that, I think she is willing to talk and work things out but as she has said here, she needs to work things out for herself first.
> 
> Edelgard is a whole other can of sardines. We'll open that in the future.
> 
> Anyways. As always, your kind comments and kudos are endlessly appreciated. Thank you so much for taking time to read my lil project here which has been keeping me sane through quarantine.
> 
> Stay safe and I'll see you next week :)


	10. Ignatz

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A heist is underfoot! But a surprise guest trips their way into the midst of their plans.

“Were the nobles in Derdriu back in the day giants?” Byleth asked.

Edelgard looked up from the floorplans she had been studying sharply. “No?” Her hair was beginning to stick to her face. It was ungoddessly hot today, and they were sitting in a van, staking out their latest target, parked just down the street. Byleth resisted the urge to reach out and brush the hair away. She could feel the sweat pooling in the creases of her palm, collecting there, only to be soaked up by the gauze and bandages that still wrapped around her injured hand and arm. The scabs in her palm would also be all soft and gross- saturated with her own sweat.

At least these tank tops that Dorothea gave her helped a little bit with the heat.

“Why is their front door so large then?” Byleth busied herself with peering over Hubert’s shoulder at the various security feeds that showed the door in question. The door currently sat as an over the top work of art in the middle of an equally over the top estate. Home to a very wealthy man who made his money in very distasteful ways. The door sat at the far end of a large raised courtyard at the top of a pair of large imposing stone stairs. The area was clearly designed for hosting events and for showing off the door. 

Hubert grumbled his displeasure at Byleth’s proximity to him. 

Even with the air conditioning on, it still felt like a sauna inside the van.

“I don’t know. The bigger the door, the more money you had?” Edelgard shrugged. 

“It’s going to be a pain to try to move.” Byleth frowned. It would be troublesome to steal any front door from anywhere, but one of this size would prove difficult. 

“Fortunately, it’s a functional door.” Edelgard pointed at a specific area on the floor plan. “They have it marked as an emergency fire escape. The weight of the door has proven too much for the original hinge mechanism that it sat on at the palace so it sits on rollers and slides into the wall beside it.” 

“I mean given the amount of events and amount of people those draw, I’d be surprised if they didn’t.” Hubert shrugged. 

“Hmm. Petra, are you able to get up to the door from the inside? How big is the gap that the door should slide into?” Byleth smiled at Edelgard. She had an idea. 

_ “I am having need of a minute.” _ Petra was disguised as one of the many uniformed employees who wandered the estate. They were out in full force, trying to get the estate ready for the big charity gala that was coming up. Large tents were popping up all over the grounds, their stark white plastic dotting the lush greens.

Both Ferdinand and Dorothea were also in full disguise as employees, gathering information as they worked chattily in different areas. They could only gather so much information through Hubert’s (inter)webs, sometimes it paid to have boots on the ground. But from what they had gathered by word of mouth and Hubert’s efforts in the virtual world, Mr. Henry Retzig treated the people that worked for him like dirt.

They waited stickily in the van, moments slowly dripping by like the drops of sweat down their necks.

_ “Thirty centimeters?” _

Byleth nodded. “Perfect. I need Bernadetta for this.”

_ “I-I can’t lift a door!” _ Bernadetta and Linhardt were waiting in a second vehicle nearby, watching a second entrance to the estate, but also ready if they needed a quick escape.

“But Berndetta, that’s exactly what we’re lifting!” Byleth grinned at Edelgard, who sighed in response. “But I don’t need you to lift the door, I need you to duplicate the door but less heavy. Much less heavy but at the same time I need it to feel heavy. I need it to be difficult to move.” 

_ “I-I could duplicate it using lighter materials. I’ll need very specific paints to match the look of it though. I’m not sure what you mean by making it difficult to move but not be heavy at the same time?”  _

“I think I have a few ideas for that,” already her mind was swirling with images of smoke, thick curtains, and magical boxes that people disappeared into only to vanish into nothingness entirely.

_ “Guys we have a problem?” _

“Where are you Caspar?” Hubert was immediately scanning his camera feeds, trying to find a green haired maintenance worker among the many faces.

_ “Main hall. I think i just saw Ignatz?” _

“Ignatz?” Byleth echoed. She remembered hearing the name before- Claude had mentioned him in their meeting at Oghma park.

_ “A-Are you sure it was Ignatz?” _

_ “Yeah! Poor guy sticks out like a sore thumb here. He looked so uncomfortable.”  _

Byleth could see Caspar on the screen, doing his best to casually make his way across the hall, toolbox down at his side.

“Who is Ignatz?” Byleth asked. She scanned Hubert’s camera feeds, trying to look for someone who looked uncomfortable, as per Caspar’s description. Most people just looked like the heat was really getting to them.

Edelgard gently placed a hand on Byleth’s forearm in a gesture of ‘hold on a minute’ as she came over to join them. “I see him. He’s moving northeast down the hallway with the ridiculous peacock figurine. Ferdinand, could you get him out of there and bring him to the van?”

_ “On my way!” _

“He’s going to blow our cover,” Hubert fumed grumpily, expertly adjusting cameras so that Ferdinand and Ignatz were both out of sight as they moved, last thing they wanted was for the security guards overseeing the cameras to come running.

A few minutes later, the van door facing away from the estate opened and a very red, very sweaty, blonde man with thick glasses came tumbling through.

“Got any water?” Ferdinand stepped into the van behind him. He schucked the dark wig that was part of his disguise onto the seat. Hubert pulled a bottle of water from a nearby cooler and pressed it into his hand. Ferdinand mumbled his thanks and began chugging the water.

Their new guest- Ignatz, Byleth presumed, huddled meekly in the corner of the van, eyes darting nervously between all of the Black Eagles present. 

Edelgard fished out another bottle of water and handed it to the cowering man. “What are you doing here, Ignatz?”

Ignatz eyed them suspiciously. “What are you doing here?”

“I asked first!” Edelgard huffed. “What does it look like we’re doing, Ignatz?”

The blonde man’s eyes widened, pieces clicking into place in his mind. “No! You can’t have it! I have to get it back, I made it for Claude, and then Raphael got hurt trying to stop those people from stealing it in the first place!”

Byleth met Edelgard’s confused look with a matching one of her own. Edelgard crouched down so she was at eye level with Ignatz. “Hold up, Ignatz. I don’t even know what you’re talking about. Who are ‘those people’? What did they steal? Is Raphael okay?” 

“Raphael is doing okay.” Ignatz looked at the ground guiltily. He shrunk in on himself a little bit more. “So I invented a new kind of paint for Claude that I was going to use for his new Golden Deer Business Association emblems.”

Byleth was confused, she didn’t know Claude was a businessman- and apparently savvy enough to start his own business association? Maybe he had a day job and his information stuff was his side hustle? Or maybe it was the other way around.

“I was testing the paint out with some of the people in the art community and unfortunately, word got out that I had this paint. I didn’t want to make a lot of it because I just wanted to use it for Claude’s GDBA stuff and that way you could tell what GDBA stuff was authentic and which ones were fakes.”

People tried to fake their way into a business association? It seemed there was a lot more to business stuff than Byleth originally though, good thing she wasn’t in that business. 

“Last week, someone broke into my workshop while I was there. I don’t remember much, I got knocked out right away but Raphael caught them on their way out when he came by to pick me up. He’s been trying to look out for me ever since Kostas and his goons trashed my studio in Remire. He took quite a beating this time but doctors say there’s no lasting injuries. But I didn’t even realize that they took the paint until a few days ago.”

“Why don’t you call the police?” Byleth asked curiously. Ignatz didn’t seem like someone who got involved with this side of the law.

Ignatz looked at her like she was crazy.

“This was your GDBA ‘workshop’ wasn’t it?” Edelgard threw up air quotes around the work workshop. Her voice was gentle, Byleth studied Edelgard’s expression carefully, there as the faintest hint of guilt in her eyes.

_ She felt bad about the incident between Kostas and Ignatz. _

Ignatz nodded, ashamed, not quite meeting Edelgard’s eyes.

“You should really protect that kind of thing better,” Hubert rumbled from his spot in front of his screens again. 

“I thought I was doing a pretty good job of it.” Ignatz mumbled into his chest, head fully lowered now. He looked like a sad puppy.

“I assume Claude knows?” Edelgard frowned.

“I honestly don’t know. I told Raphael not to say anything for now, but Claude has a way of knowing things but he hasn’t said anything to me yet.”

“And you’re certain that this guy has your paint?”

“Absolutely. He posted a selfie on his social media with it. The art community is abuzz about it.”

Byleth whistled lowly, that was bold. Clearly he wasn’t scared of any retribution, not from Ignatz at least.

“So you decided that the best of action was to steal this paint back? On your own?” Edelgard questioned, clearly unimpressed.

“I’ve been working with Claude for a while now. I know my way around criminals! I thought I would make it right first.” Ignatz protested, he tried to puff up his chest in pride, but quickly withered under Edelgard’s harsh gaze.

“You’re a forger, Ignatz. Not a thief. This would be like Bernadetta going about this solo. Goddess, even we wouldn’t do this as a solo project.” Ferdinand’s voice somehow managed to be warm while maintaining a sense of sternness, almost like a parent scolding their child. 

Byleth studied Ignatz, the faint flecks of paint on his clothes and under his nails, the calluses on his hands that were very similar to the ones Bernadetta had, developed over years of painting and sculpting and other artistic endeavours. Even now, in the van, he was nervous, uncomfortable- Bernadetta definitely stood a better chance at stealing this paint than Ignatz did.

“Go home, Ignatz.” Edelgard said finally, 

He looked up at her stubbornly. “I have to get the paint back!”

“You are going to get yourself killed. Retzig is going to recognize you and then what? You’re going to put Claude in a difficult position- and I am not giving him Bernadetta to replace you.” Edelgard hissed.

_ “I-I don’t want to replace Ignatz either!” _

“Nobody is replacing anybody,” Byleth reassured Bernadetta. Ignatz looked a little bit confused, not sure what Byleth’s role in the conversation or the group was and also not having heard Bernadetta through their coms.

“Look, it’ll be a huge problem for Claude if I can’t get this paint back. I’ll do anything for you if you can just give me the paint instead of whoever hired you to take it.” Ignatz was wringing his hands now.

“We’re not here to steal this paint.” Byleth stated flatly. Only Bernadetta would be invested in this paint- maybe Edelgard? Byleth recalled that Edelgard had talked about special paints that one night on the rooftop.

“Oh.”

“What’s so special about your paint anyway? Can’t you mix more?” Ferdinand finished his bottle of water and discarded it into a bag of empties nearby.

“It’s the goldest paint in the world right now that doesn’t use actual gold. And it looks pretty much like gold. Nobody else knows how to make it. But the issue isn’t that I can’t make more, it's that there is a can out there in the hands of Retzig.”

“Oh, you made that paint?” Byleth was surprised. This was the paint that Edelgard was talking about that night. Even Edelgard looked a little bit surprised.

“Right, Claude’s business association can't tell from people trying to fake their way in because there’s a rogue can of this paint out there.” Hubert rolled his eyes, clearly unimpressed by this whole thing. “You would think he had better ways to recover this paint.”

“Well..” Ignatz trailed off uncomfortably.

“It’s a matter of pride, isn’t it, Ignatz?” Ferdinand spoke up gently, reading the other man like an open book. 

“You don’t want to cause trouble for Claude, I understand that, but you doing this and getting caught- and you  _ will  _ get caught, is a lot more trouble than Retzig with the paint.” Byleth could see the gears in Edelgard’s head spinning furiously. She was deep in thought.

Edelgard looked over at her. “Byleth, how much trouble is it to add a second package to our heist, do you think?”

_ “Is Edie actually volunteering our services for a charity case? Somebody has changed.” _

Edelgard pointedly ignored Dorothea’s teasing, looking at Byleth expectantly.

Byleth shrugged, “Depends on where it is really. But I doubt it’d be any more difficult than what we’re trying to do already.”

“He has it in his ‘art studio’ in the basement!” Ignatz supplied helpfully, air quotes and all.

“Why are you saying it like that?” Byleth mimicked his air quotes.

“It’s a glorified open space that he loves to toss paint around in. No real work gets done there. It just makes him seem cultured and artistic.” Ignatz replied bitterly.

“Hubert, do you know, between Dorothea or Ferdinand, which of them would Retzig prefer?” 

Hubert’s head snapped toward Byleth so fast that she was sure he had whiplash. “What.”

“She’s asking which way he swings,” Ferdinand grinned cheekily at Hubert, very amused by it all.

Hubert glared.

“What? The guy is rich and terrible but he might not be straight,” Byleth shrugged. It would be stupid if their plan failed all because Retzig wasn’t particularly interested in the grifter they placed before him.

The hacker grumbled under his breath, something about swinging at Retzig with a chair. A moment later, a very disgruntled Hubert responded, “Dorothea would be your best bet.”

_ “I am everyone’s best bet.”  _ Byleth could just imagine the sassy hair flip that Dorothea must be doing by now.

_ “I am having agreement.” _

_ “Oooh, Petra. You flatterer, you.” _

“Both of you stop it. This line is for work-related things only.” Hubert groused. It seemed the heat only made him grumpier.

“Well the plan still stands then. Caspar and Petra can you try to take a look in the basement? Just scout out the area? There’s a few blindspots in the camera feeds. The studio doesn’t appear to have any cameras.” 

Both of them gave their affirmations and Byleth watched them disappear from Hubert’s camera feeds.

Ignatz watched their discussion silently, eyes wide. “You guys really will get my paint back?” 

Edelgard looked down at him, still in thought. “Not for free though.”

Ignatz brightened, “Of course not! I wouldn’t allow you to do it for free. I’ll pay any price!”

Byleth smiled a small smile to herself, turning away slightly so Edelgard couldn’t see her. Given their earlier interactions with Ignatz, pitying him by doing this whole thing for free seemed like they were overstepping? Byleth didn’t know how to describe it, but she knew the feeling- they couldn’t just come in and trample on his pride while he sat back on his hands.

“I need you to help Bernadetta replicate the Great Hero King’s Emblem for next week.”

Ignatz’s eyes widened. “Like the giant door?”

“Yes. Is that going to be a problem?” 

“The paints that you would need and the metals…” Ignatz was off mumbling to himself, listing materials and techniques.

“Well Bernadetta was going to do it by herself, so if you’re not up to par…”

Byleth had to restrain herself from laughing out loud as Ignatz puffed out his chest at the challenging tone Edelgard took.

“Of course I can do this! Nobody will be able to tell which one is the fake after we’re done with this.” 

Ignatz was a curious one, Byleth decided. A different kind of curious compared to the rest of the Black Eagles. She just hoped that this additional curiousness wouldn’t detract from their heist.

* * *

“Yes, Mr. Fenkey. We have to make sure the building is up to fire code before the big charity event next week.” Edelgard repeated to the distressed man in a sharp looking suit as they walked through the halls of the Retzig mansion.

Between Hubert and Bernadetta, they were able to make official documents and ID badges for both Edelgard and Byleth to do a building inspection a couple days after their initial scout. A flash of both sets of items brought them to the head of staff immediately. Honestly it was more difficult for Byleth to put on the fire marshal outfit with its long sleeves this morning than it was for Hubert and Bernadetta to make the fakes. They were scarily efficient. 

“We’ve never had to do an inspection before!” The sweaty man protested even as he led them slowly down the hallway. 

“Some very important people with the city are going to be present at the event- and given the terrible news plaguing Derdriu lately, with all those bomb threats, they don’t want any more bad publicity. We are here to make sure that we have all the bases well covered. You understand, liability and all of that. I don’t think Mr. Retzig would like a lawsuit on his hands after all the trouble he’s going through to host this event.” Edelgard smiled coldly at the man. Her implied threat was clear and he immediately quieted his protests.

Beside her, Byleth was busy taking notes on a clipboard. With a camera around her neck and a myriad of tools dangling from a belt on her hip, she looked every bit professional in her fire marshal uniform. She slowed to a stop in the hallway, making note of a few more blindspots in the camera positioning, then she stepped up to examine the door they were after more closely.

“Please be careful with that door! It’s a priceless piece of art that will cost your entire life’s salary to repair if it's damaged!” 

“This door is marked as an emergency fire escape but it’s not up to code.” Byleth stated flatly. There was about a 25 centimeter wide gap in the wall that the door slid into as part of the opening mechanism. A deep groove in the floor housed a set of rails and the rolling mechanism the door sat on top of. It seemed that the door could only be locked by locking the rollers underneath it.

“What do you mean it’s not up to code! It can open out to the courtyard!”

“Do you feel that draft though?” Byleth stuck her hand in the gap and waved it around. “There shouldn’t be a draft here. We’re going to have to put something there to help seal it off.”

“Put something where? Mr. Retzig will be very mad if you damage the door! We can’t afford to do major construction around this door. The conservator that we’ve hired is away on vacation right now so we can not do anything to this door!” The man was wringing his hands in such a state that Byleth honestly felt like his hands were going to fly off with the force of it.

“We can temporarily put a piece of fireproof material in the gap. It’ll fit right into the gap against the door to seal off the draft, but if we need to open the door the material will have a slot in it. You slide the door inside so it’s protected by the material. I assume if the door is being opened, there is a chance that there’s an actual fire present and the door will be protected.” Byleth pulled a measuring tape off of her belt. 

“What are you doing?” This guy was very jumpy.

“I’m measuring the gap so that I can have a piece of material that will fit perfectly, temporarily installed here.” Byleth ignored the man’s protests and began measuring the gap and door. 

“Why are you so nervous, Mr. Fenkey? We’re being very accommodating in using this kind of a draft blocker for you.” Edelgard flipped her hair over her shoulder with enough flair to rival Dorothea. “Are you hiding something? Is there something wrong with this building that you are trying to hide from us?” Edelgard rounded on him, the sharp bite of her tone driving the man back a few steps even though she didn’t move from her spot.

“N-No?” 

Something was definitely up.

“Are you sure, Mr. Fenkey? Lying to the fire marshal in this instance is a serious crime.” The man’s eyes darted nervously from side to side.

“Fenny-boy!” a loud contemptuous voice interrupted Edelgard from questioning the nervous head of staff any further. From down the hall, a lanky man with slicked back blonde hair strode forward confidently, flanked by two burly men in sharp suits.

“Mr. Retzig! I didn’t expect you back so soon!” 

“Who are these beautiful ladies? Are you having guests over without my permission?” 

Byleth wrinkled her nose, she could smell Retzig’s cologne from a mile away. It was like he took a bath in it instead of water.

“These are the fire marshals that the city sent. They’re doing a building inspection before the charity event next week.”

Retzig brushed passed his head of staff without a second look, his lips drew up into a polite smile even though his eyes remained disdainful- of them or of Fenkey, Byleth couldn’t quite tell.

“Hey beautiful, aren’t you a sight for sore eyes, I really don’t think an inspection is at all necessary. Nothing is going to happen. I’ve held many major events here before.” He was cocky, flippant. This was his castle and he was clearly used to getting his way. He stepped in front of Byleth, not even bothering to hide his blatant ogling of her. “What happened to your hand there? Would you like me to hold it for you?”

Byleth stared blankly past him, just above his head and to the left, unfazed at all. She had dealt with her fair share of sleazeballs in the past, she didn’t expect that to change. Her true and tried tactic of ignoring them always worked out for her in the end.

Edelgard’s hand on her wrist, gently tugging at her, made Byleth look down at her as Edelgard moved to step in between them. “Sorry, did you have something business related to ask us? Otherwise, we really must be moving along.”

“Aren’t you too young and too pretty to be a fire marshal?” he quipped at her, leering at Edelgard, ignoring all social norms and leaning in way too close, positioned so that he prevented them from travelling down the hall any further. Byleth’s fist clenched under Edelgard’s grip, and Edelgard gently rubbed small circles into Byleth’s wrist with her thumb in response. Their point of contact was hidden behind Edelgard’s back still but Byleth was grateful for it all the same.

“I could say the same for you, Mr. Retzig. You’re awfully young to be the head of the fastest growing tech company on this side of Fodlan, aren’t you? Oh, my apologies, I think I’m thinking of your father.” Edelgard replied without missing a beat. She didn’t back away from his presence even though Byleth saw the hand at her side tense.

The smile on his face dropped like a stone but was quickly replaced with an insidious smirk, “The fire marshal has fire!” He turned to his men, “A little mouthy. I think I prefer the other one, should we keep them?”

Byleth clenched and unclenched her uninjured fist, trying to prevent herself from enacting on her sudden desire to punch something. Something with a very punchable face. She sized up Retzig’s posse- she could take both of them if it came down it, even with her injured hand.

“The only thing you are keeping, Mr. Retzig, is my partner and I from finishing the building inspection. I don’t think the city would be very happy if they found out that you are obstructing our work.”

Edelgard never failed to impress Byleth with how well she could handle herself. It looked like there was no need for Byleth to worry after all.

Retzig backed down, allowing them to pass with a flourish and mock chivalry.

“Now, Mr. Fenkey. Back to my original question. Is there anything that we should know about this building before we continue? Need I remind you that it is a crime to lie to us right now?” Edelgard ignored Retzig in favour of pressing his head of staff again.

Byleth watched as Retzig also turned his eyes to the man in question. He shrunk in on himself even further, reduced to a leaf shaking in the wind, nothing like the loudly protesting man that greeted them at the door earlier.

“There is nothing to hide!” He avoided Retzig’s gaze, choosing to look at the floor instead.

“If you’re sure, Mr. Fenkey. Then let us continue with the inspection.” Edelgard stalked past Retzig and his two lackeys with all of the power and grace. Byleth followed behind her stoically, not even sparing any of the men a glance, gaze focused solely on Edelgard’s retreating form. She could feel Retzig’s glare on the back of her neck as she walked away from him. 

Hasty footsteps followed them and the nervous wreck that was their guide dashed to get in front of them. The rest of the inspection went unimpeded. Byleth made note of a few more blindspots and the faintest tremble of anger in Edelgard’s fingers. One of Retzig’s two lackeys followed behind them not so discreetly, clearly there to keep an eye on them, or maybe on Fenkey. They were only interrupted once when they had to enter Retzig’s art studio area in the basement and the lackey following them around had to unlock the door with a swipe card. The door swung open with a series of clunks and hisses- there were some heavy duty hydraulics moving this door. Somebody was definitely worried about whatever was behind this door.

Ignatz was right in his description of the area. Splashes of paint covered the entire room. All sorts of different colours in different shapes and sizes. It looked like someone had a paintball fight in here. Along one side were a series of frames and canvases, each one covered by a thick white cloth as they leaned up against each other and the wall. Maybe had taken a crack at actually making paintings?

Byleth ignored them, it wasn’t what they were after. A fully stocked minibar stood by itself in the corner. She could count well over a dozen different bottles of liquor on the counter and shelf above it. A modern white couch sat in the middle of the room, facing the bulk of the paint splattered mess. He liked to view his own mess, Byleth guessed. How narcissistic. 

It was strange he had this room locked up with such a heavy duty door. He couldn’t have possibly just gotten some high tech security gear installed for Ignatz’s paint? That seemed like a little bit much. They were able to locate the paint though. It didn’t have a standard paint label on it but the silhouette of a deer sprayed into the side of the silver can in gold. It was tempting to just swipe the can now. It would be relatively simple for them to do even with Fenkey and the lackey in the room. Unfortunately they had a bigger prize in mind. Stealing the paint now would make things more difficult for them for their big heist. It was better to get both of them on the same night.

Their shadow followed them all the way out to their car, carefully plastered with all the Derdriu fire marshal insignia- courtesy of Caspar. Once in the car, Edelgard peeled away from the estate, burning rubber as she drove, whiteknuckling the steering wheel with a grip that threatened to crush the wheel. 

“I can’t believe the nerve of that guy. I knew he was an absolute piece of garbage but he’s really on a whole other level.” Edelgard had her teeth gritted, her entire body tense.

“I didn’t think that someone like him would get under your skin so much,” Byleth mused out loud. She reached out with a hand across the center console in a comforting manner and then hesitated- unsure if what she was doing was welcome or not. Edelgard’s gaze flicked over to Byleth’s outstretched hand for a moment.

Byleth nearly missed the tiny nod that she gave, hidden among the jostling of the car hitting a particularly bumpy part of the road and her own tense anger. Gently, Byleth smoothed her hand over the wrinkles in Edelgard’s sleeve like she could smooth over whatever tension and anger she was feeling.

“It wasn’t so much about me, Byleth. It was the way that he was treating you that didn’t sit well with me,” Edelgard nearly growled.

Byleth tilted her head curiously at Edelgard. “You realize that I could kill him?”

“In hindsight, I realize that it wasn’t exactly rational, yes.” Edelgard replied evasively, shifting in her seat.

“That’s alright. I appreciated the gesture anyway,” Byleth smiled. She couldn’t remember the last time that someone had stood up for her in such a fashion. It had to have been years- maybe back when she was a child still even.

The heavy fabric of Edelgard’s fake fire marshal uniform’s sleeve grew warm under Byleth’s hand and she pulled her hand away before things got too weird. Did Edelgard know that the uniform cut quite an imposing figure out of her? More so than her usual presence demanded anyway. 

“How are you feeling?”

Byleth looked over at Edelgard quizzically, didn’t she just ask this question mere moments ago? Had she forgotten already?

“Like I am confident in my abilities to kill him if it came down to it?”

“No! I know that! I meant Kronya, not Retzig.” Edelgard huffed.

Byleth had to smile at her exasperation. “I’m fine.”

Edelgard gave her a skeptical sidelong look. “Byleth. From what you told me, you just found out that your father’s murderer is Kronya, and is alive. That’s a lot for anybody.”

“It is. But I have you guys around and a new heist to focus on. I think you all have been very helpful. Don’t think I don’t notice you guys trying to help me out and make sure I’m okay- I think Petra tried to follow me to the bathroom the other day.” 

Edelgard had the decency to flush, “I told them to give you some privacy. I’ll tell them to leave you alone.”

“No!” Edelgard looked taken aback at the force of Byleth’s sudden shout. “It’s fine. I’ve never had anybody do anything like this for me. It’s… touching I think.”

Edelgard gave her a strange look. “Alright then. But if it ever gets too much, please let me know. Should we go check on Bernadetta and Ignatz?” 

Byleth nodded her assent, “We should double check the dimensions that we just got with their fake. The rollers along the bottom of the door look sufficient and wide enough for us to make the switch. We should also have Caspar bring our magic box over so we can test the whole thing out as soon as he is done building it.”

“I still can’t believe that this whole idea is built around a magic show you saw as a child.” 

“Sometimes inspiration comes from the strangest things.”

* * *

“How does it look?” 

Byleth and Edelgard stood before a grandiose, heavily gilded door. It wasn’t finished yet but with the amount of detail that was already present, if Byleth didn’t know any better, she would’ve thought that she was actually standing in front of the real deal. A series of heavy electromagnets lined the bottom of the door, the power source tucked neatly into a hollow carved into the door itself. With the press of button, the electromagnets would turn on. The rails that were a part of the sliding mechanism that the real door was affixed to was metal and the magnetic attraction would force the sliding platform further onto the rails, mimicking the weight of the real door. 

“I think you’ve outdone yourselves.” Edelgard leaned in closer to examine some of the fine gold inlays.

“I agree. I really didn’t think you would get this much done already.” Byleth smiled warmly at Bernadetta, who flushed red under the praise.

“I-It’s nothing! Anybody could do this. Ignatz is really good at what he does.” Bernadetta shied away from Byleth’s approving gaze.

“Bernadetta,” Byleth reprimanded gently, coaxing her forward from behind her door. She held her hands out, palms up, open in a non-aggressive and welcoming manner like one would with a frightened cat.

The shy girl shuffled forward and hesitantly placed her hands in Byleth’s. Byleth could feel the damp layer of sweat between their hands and she gave Bernadetta’s hands a gentle squeeze of encouragement.

“I think you’re absolutely amazing and what you have done here- Ignatz or not, is incredible.” Byleth quickly looked over her shoulder at Ignatz, “No offense, Ignatz.”

“None taken!” Ignatz replied good-naturedly, smiling brightly at the interaction before him. “I think Bernadetta is pretty amazing in her own right.”

“You should give yourself more credit for what you do, and for the amazing things that you’ve done in the past. So believe in yourself. None of this ‘anybody could do this’ because really, Bernadetta, not just  _ anybody _ could do this.” Byleth brought Bernadetta’s hands together and warmly clasped them together, trying to pour all the pride and approval into the motion, like emotion could physically flow from her hands and into Bernadetta’s.

“O-Okay.” Bernadetta looked away, still shy.

Byleth let go of her hands and turned to find Edelgard looking at her, a strange mixture of amusement and fondness in her eyes. 

“Let’s go check on your magic box.”

* * *

“Boo!” 

Byleth stared impassively as Caspar’s form sprung out of the tall black rectangular box in the middle of his workshop.

“Aw, you’re not even scared.” Caspar’s whine turned into a surprise yelp as his toe caught on the base of the box and nearly face planted forward. He caught himself in time and flushed in embarrassment.

“How is it coming along?” Byleth asked, examining the structure. It was sturdy, supported by a strong metal frame and base. The padded material that made up the sides were thick, making it impossible to discern what was hidden inside the structure from the outside.

“Nearly done.” Caspar ran his hands over the open flap of the structure. “The material blocks the light completely and on the inside I’ve added some shimmery material so that when you look inside, the light coming through the open flap hits the material and messes with your vision a little bit- just in case.”

“Very thoughtful,” Byleth stuck her head into the structure to see for herself. It was hard to see anything in there, the fluorescent lighting dancing across the inner material, making it hard for eyes to make up any discernible shapes. 

“The flap where the fake will be is to your right, the real door is to your left. And just like you asked, when you push the real door into it, it will move the little wire along the top, drawing the middle flap across it so by the time the door is fully inside the box, the flap will completely obscure it from view, leaving the fake visible.” Caspar took a deep breath as he continued to ramble on. “There’s a hidden compartment so the sliding platform will actually go right into the hidden compartment, while the doors, real and fake, sit above it. When you push the real door into the box, the material of the box that the doors rest on should wedge itself between the door and the sliding platform, which makes it super easy for you to make the swap.” Caspar’s voice sounded muffled through the material of the box. 

Reaching out with her hand, Byleth could feel the thin piece of wire placed across the width of the box, near the top so that the door would definitely run into it as it was moved into the box. She pushed on it experimentally and to her delight, the thick but surprisingly flexible material along the right side of the box began to move, brushing against her nose. In the scattered light, she could see the material almost loop in on itself and began moving a little bit across to the left and then down the length of the box, redividing the box so that the hidden compartment was now on the right instead of the left.

“You have exceeded what I originally imagined.” Byleth pulled her form out of the structure and blinked a few times in the bright fluorescent lighting of the garage. She had given Caspar a simple schematic with a few outlined functions scribbled on a napkin. This was truly impressive. “We’ll test it with the fake door as soon as you’re finished with it.”

“I’ve also got the cart you requested finished as well.” Caspar gestured to a large grey metal cart. “The wheels have a hidden locking mechanism so we can make it really difficult to push with just a push of a button.” He was really proud of himself.

“Excellent work, your work is ingenious as usual, Caspar.” Byleth nodded her approval.

Caspar flushed with praise, unused to such blatant praise. “Hey uh Byleth, uh you doing okay?” Caspar inquired, albeit hesitantly, none of his usual rashness present.

Byleth, amused, raised her eyebrows faintly at Edelgard. “Very okay, thank you for checking in with me.”

“If you want to, we can like go tune up your bike or work on some upgrades or something?” 

Byleth smiled goodnaturedly, Caspar just wanted to tinker with something that wasn’t this box, she could tell. It wasn’t like him to beat around the bush like this- perhaps a sign that he was trying to respect her boundaries? Well it didn’t matter, this wasn’t a boundary he was overstepping. “I would very much like that.”

Caspar brightened immediately. “I’ll go grab some new parts that I just picked up! Your bike is going to be so sick!” he called out over his shoulder as he ran toward the stairs.

“You don’t have to say yes if you don’t want to.” Edelgard reminded Byleth. 

“And if I want to?”

Edelgard sighed deeply, exasperated. “Have fun?”

Byleth smiled, how could hanging out with Caspar not be fun?

* * *

“Byleth, what do you think of the Black Eagles?”

Byleth raised her eyebrows faintly as tightened another bolt. Of all the things that she expected, she didn’t expect him to ask such personal and probing questions. Maybe this was going to be less fun than she thought. She peered at him through some of the spaces between the pieces of the bike. “What do you mean?” They were both covered in grease and grime but Byleth found herself enjoying the process all the same.

“Like do you like it here?” Caspar grunted with exertion from the other side.

“Yes?” Byleth set the wrench that she was using down on the ground. The sound of metal against the concrete garage floor echoed in the space. “Why do you ask? Have I given you any reason to doubt whether or not I do?” 

She could see Caspar’s arms flail as he tried to backpedal on his question and implications. “No no no. I was just worried you know? Like you were basically hiding from everyone for a week. It makes a guy wonder.”

Byleth sighed deeply. She knew that the other members of the group would be worried still, each in their own way. Maybe she ought to sit down with each one of them, one and one, and just work it all out. “I apologize for making you worry, it was not the most responsible way to handle my problems I realize and the group has suffered for it.” She could see now, the faintest traces of worry lingering in the warmth of Caspar’s gaze. “But I assure you, while the issues that I face have not magically solved themselves, I think that being among you all helps much more than hiding away does.”

“Okay good! I think the Black Eagles are a lot better with you in it than without. You’re like family now! Your hermit week really put a big damper on like the whole mood of the place. And also maybe because Edelgard was really worried about you! She was super stressed! I really thought she was going to wear a big long hole in the carpet with all of her pacing.” 

Family. It felt weird to hear it out loud. But to hear it from Caspar, someone who was so earnest and so honest- it was like looking into crystal waters. She could just look and see everything, all the fish, all the life, all the movements, Caspar didn’t hide things. He said what he meant and meant what he said. 

All the same though, she wasn’t sure if she could accept such trust, such a privilege yet. Not when there were so many things that she wasn’t sure of for herself.

“She never told me that.” Byleth stated flatly. Though she supposed there was never a good time to mention that. She also wasn’t aware that her absence- even if she was just in her room, had such an effect on the group. She would definitely try to make up for that.

Caspar laughed nervously, “I don’t think I was supposed to either, please don’t tell her that I told you.”

“Tell who what, Caspar?” Edelgard’s voice called out from the staircase. She looked at Caspar expectantly.

“N-Nothing!” Caspar yelled in a manner that absolutely gave him away as he scrambled to his feet and moved so that Byleth was between him and Edelgard.

“I come down here to tell you that dinner is ready, and I find you gossiping about me?” Edelgard took a step forward, her presence filling the area menacingly.

Byleth could tell she was just toying with Caspar, but one look at Caspar’s panicked face, and Byleth took pity on him. She reached out and grabbed Edelgard’s hand as she passed her. 

Edelgard looked down at her in surprise.

“Could you help me up?” Byleth asked, hand still in Edelgard’s.

Smoothly, Edelgard lifted Byleth to her feet without much effort on her part. As she moved to head towards Caspar again, Byleth tightened her grip on her hand, smiling. “You were saying something about dinner?” 

“Yes.”

“Could you rewrap my hand before dinner? I’m afraid I got motor oil and grease all over the bandages.”

Edelgard took one look at the once pristine now filthy and grimy bandage and agreed readily. Byleth allowed herself to be led back upstairs. As she turned the corner up the stairs, she caught Caspar’s thankful grin and double thumbs up.

Maybe she wasn’t ready to accept such trust, but she could never doubt whether that trust was real or not.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We love some soft Black Eagles! A lil goofy softness for everyone, including Byleth who really appreciates the Black Eagles and all their attempts to help out, no matter how weird it is. (And Edelgard who is trying her best)
> 
> (And yes. I did borrow the paint idea from that wild vantablack paint dealio a while back lol)
> 
> Anyway. As usual, all comments and kudos are greatly appreciated. Thank you for reading! 
> 
> Stay safe and see you next week :)


	11. Raphael

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The heist for the door goes a little bit sideways.

“I am having seen magic!” Petra exclaimed, delighted.

The Black Eagles stood, gathered around in the secret workshop that Bernadetta and Ignatz had been working in. Their replica was finished and now had vanished into the magic box, so to speak. 

Petra poked her head into the structure again, “I am having not seen the pocket or the door! Caspar! You are having magic skills!”

“Thanks Petra!” Caspar grinned broadly. 

“This looks excellent. Let’s get this to Retzig’s place and get it all set up.” Byleth patted the magic box. As usual, the Black Eagles had never failed to impress her.

“Aye aye, captain!” Caspar began wheeling the box toward the back of the workshop where a cube van was waiting.

A series of loud knocks on the door interrupted them. They all looked at Hubert, who sighed, checking the alerts on his phone. “It’s Raphael. I suppose he’s here for you, Ignatz?”

Ignatz scratched his head sheepishly, “Oops. My phone was on silent.”

“Please open the door before he breaks it down.”

The metal door groaned as it was opened, almost like the sheer force of the knocks had actually knocked it off of its hinges, to reveal a large, imposing man, dressed in a plaid shirt that looked like it was about to burst open. “Raphael, I’ve told you. You don’t have to button these shirts up. You can wear them open if you have a shirt on underneath.” Ignatz whispered, hastily saving the poor shirt buttons and smoothing out the wrinkles.

Despite the bandages wrapped around his head and the greenish yellow hues of rapidly fading bruises across what skin that was visible, the larger man smiled down at Ignatz warmly. “It felt weird.” He complained, tugging at the open edge of his shirt. “Are you okay? I was worried when you didn’t pick up your phone.”

“My phone was on silent mode, sorry Raphael.” Ignatz looked sheepish. 

“That’s okay. At least you’re safe.” Raphael clapped Ignatz on the back heartily, sending the smaller man stumbling with the force of it. He looked over the Eagles who were still standing around, watching this interaction. “They seem okay, Ignatz.”

“They’re going to help me recover the stolen paint.”

“Have you told Claude yet?” Edelgard interjected.

Ignatz looked sheepish at the mention of Claude. “No. I haven’t.”

Edelgard rounded on Raphael, “Have  _ you _ talked to Claude?”

“I haven’t seen Claude for a while.” Raphael rumbled quietly. "I wanted to, but Ignatz told me not to."

“You realize you could text him or call him?”

Byleth stepped forward and laid a gentle hand on Edelgard’s crossed arms, “I’m all for open lines of communication, but we are only putting them into a difficult spot by pressuring them like this. Let’s give them space.” She directed her next words at Ignatz and Raphael, “I think Claude would appreciate it if he found out from you directly rather than through the fishing line.”

Edelgard blinked. “That’s not the saying, Byleth.”

“What?”

Edelgard sighed, “Nevermind. Let’s get this thing moved to Retzig’s.” 

* * *

Retzig was not around to accost them as they installed Byleth’s magic box. The head of house that they dealt with last time followed them nervously again, examining their handiwork even as four of the other servants struggled to push their draft-blocker-turned-magic-box on the cart Caspar made.

As they lifted they began lifting the magic box off the cart near the sliding mechanism and the Great Hero King’s Emblem, Byleth triggered the electromagnets with a tap on her phone. The strength of the sudden magnetic force nearly made them drop the box as they finally pushed it off of the cart.

“Why is this so heavy?” One of the sweaty, red faced servants panted as they finally forced the box into place.

“We had to take into account the weight of the door. If this whole place burns down and all that is left is this box, it would be awfully unfortunate if this box couldn’t hold up the weight of the door if it tips, you think?” Byleth stated flatly like this was the most obviousidea. 

“Mr. Retzig will have our heads if the door is damaged at all,” Fenkey reminded them all tersely, still looking around frantically, as if he was keeping watch for something,  _ someone _ .

“Hopefully, it won’t come to that.” Byleth remarked cheerily, flashing a smile at Edelgard who frowned. The estate was coming together nicely, decorations were carefully placed, the floors recently cleaned and waxed, even the air smelled nicer. Artificially nice, but nice all the same. From what they could tell, it seemed the Retzig estate was just about ready. 

Just not ready for the Black Eagles.

* * *

_ “For such a douche-bag, he sure throws classy events.” _

Byleth hummed her agreement, making eye contact with Ferdinand as he passed by with a tray of drinks. She slowly sipped from her glass of tomato juice. She hadn’t liked it at first, the cloudiness and colour of it was off putting. but as the night wore on, the taste was growing on her. There was an interesting taste to the juice, almost like there was fish in it. She liked fish.

All around her were people dressed to the nines, wandering around in the opulence. Carefully, she leaned back against the wall that she had claimed as her territory for the night. Last thing she wanted to do was knock down some dumb wall fixture. 

The rest of the Black Eagles were dispersed across the estate in varying roles and disguises. She was still playing her dutiful role of the fire marshall, her fake badge clipped to the inside of her blazer this time. Mournfully, she scratched at her sleeve with her pinky, the rest of her fingers still wrapped firmly around her glass. Fortunately, she only had to suffer through wearing these clothes for a few more hours.

The buttondown shirt and jacket had been a giant pain to put on with her arm all wrapped up. She missed the sleeveless shirts Dorothea had given her. Recently, a sleeveless shirt dotted with little blue fish had appeared on her desk. She had earnestly worn the shirt every day after that until Dorothea intervened, insisting that she do laundry and that she would try to find fish patterned shirts for her instead of the solid ones she had been providing.

More fish patterned sleeveless shirts showed up on Byleth’s desk the next day.

Dorothea looked surprised when Byleth wandered into the common area in the new shirts. Byleth took that to mean that she didn’t expect her to wear the new shirts so quickly, completely missing the knowing smirk Dorothea shot over the sofa at somebody who was trying her hardest not to stare at Byleth.

_ “We are having a problem. Ignatz’s paint is on display.” _ Retzig had opened his paint covered mess to the public to enjoy. 

The various pieces of art that lay covered in the corner was on full display, which apparently included the can of paint. Petra was in the studio now, blending among the guests. They were surprised that the art studio had been opened to the public like this. Their original plan was to have Dorothea convince Retzig to let her see the studio and steal it from under his nose. But Retzig couldn’t resist showing off- even things that really did not make sense to be shown off. Granted, the man would probably show off a loaf of bread if he thought it would bring him attention.

They had thought stealing the paint from a crowd would be easier. Apparently not.

When in doubt, they’d just improvise their way out.

_ “He’s just displaying a can of paint? That’s dumb. That’s like displaying a can of sardines.” _

“I think a can of sardines would be pretty cool, Caspar.” 

_ “I-I can make you a giant can of sardines for your room?” _

“I think I would really like that. Will there be giant sardines inside of it, Bernadetta?”

_ “Stop it. Retzig coming up the stairs now from the studio. There’s a lot of people from the art community here tonight. He’s clearly flaunting the fact that he has this paint.”  _ Hubert was ever present in the virtual sky. 

_ “We could clear the room with a distraction? I have some explosives in the van still.” _

_ “They’re bound to notice a display missing.That would mean that we would have to keep everyone out of the room for the rest of the night.”  _ Ferdinand pointed out.

“Bernadetta, can you get to the studio? How much time do you think you will need to paint the deer symbol on different can of paint?”

_ “L-Less than a minute?” _

“Okay. We’ll clear the room with the fire alarm. Bernadetta will make a dummy can and we will swap the two. Dorothea? Can you lead Retzig away from the studio? We’ll try to keep the bulk of his personal security as far as possible so Petra and Bernadetta can work uninterrupted.” The bulk of Retzig’s posse trailed after him, not even trying to be discreet. If any of the guards would notice that something was awry, it would be them, not the random security company that was hired to help maintain order for the event. 

_ “O-Okay. I’m in the studio with Petra.” _

_ “I got him.” _ From across the hall, Byleth could see Dorothea wander toward the stairs, positioning herself to catch Retzig as he came up them, fanning herself daintily. Same plan as before, just slightly different directions.

Retzig appeared at the top of the stairs, looking very proud and smug. He looked delighted at Dorothea’s appearance and approached her with his usual leering smile as she giggled. The two of them disappeared into the crowd of people, Dorothea allowing herself to be pulled along. Retzig was a creep, sure, but Dorothea was playing him like a fiddle.

“Okay, time to set off the alarm.” Byleth drained the last of her tomato juice and set the glass down.

Mere seconds later, the alarm went off. A fake one blared loudly, rigged up by Hubert so that it wouldn’t actually alert the fire department. They didn’t need or want the extra people running around. 

The crowd of people rushed down the hallway in reaction to the piercing fire alarm. Hurriedly, she rushed down the hallway after them to the Great Hero King’s Emblem, where a crowd was beginning to gather, panicked as some of the staff struggled to get the door open. The rush of fresh air into the hall seemed to act like a green light for the crowd and the people surged forward like a rushing tide, threatening to swallow the men who had just pushed open the door, whole. 

Fortunately, the wave of people ignored her as she flattened herself against the wall, out of the way while she gestured for people to exit the building. As more and more people poured out into the courtyard, spilling out further into the grounds, Byleth began moving closer and closer to the exit.

_ “We are having more problems.” _

_ “What is it, Petra?” _

_ “The studio is having been empty of people. But the door is having been locked with us in the studio.” _

_ “What?”  _ Hubert was surprised. That wasn’t a good sign.

_ “O-One of Retzig’s men came by to l-lock it after everyone cleared out. W-We hid behind the c-couch but now we can’t get the d-door open. ”  _

_ “Hubert, can you unlock it remotely? When Byleth and I were in there last, it was just swipe access”  _

There was a pause as Hubert began typing furiously.  _ “Yes. I cracked the swipe access.” _

_ “The door is not having opened, Hubert.” _

_ “That shouldn’t be possible.” _

_ “I-It’s still l-locked! O-Oh g-goddess. W-We’re trapped in here. W-We’re going to d-die in here, aren’t w-we?” _

_ “Bernadetta! Just breathe. We will get you out. I know you don’t like being locked in like this but I just need you to focus on making that dummy can. Don’t think about anything else. Everything will be okay.” _ Edelgard’s voice was soothing. Soft and warm. Byleth was stunned by how even she felt a little bit at ease listening to her. 

Byleth could tell by the increased shake in Bernadetta’s voice that she was going to be in a full blown panic. 

_ “P-Promise?” _

_ “Remember when I promised that I would get you away from your father?” _

_ “Y-Yeah?” _

_ “Did I keep my promise?” _

_ “Y-Yeah.” _

_ “Then will you trust me to keep you safe again?” _

_ “Y-Yeah.” _

_ “Okay. Petra, can you stay near her? She’s going to need some kind of physical contact to keep her grounded. Don’t worry about anything else, we’ll handle it from here.” _

Petra made a noise of affirmation.

Byleth didn’t know too much about Bernadetta’s history with her father, but from what she gleaned from her interactions with their resident forger and from tidbits she picked up from the other Eagles, it wasn’t a good one.

_ “Byleth?” _

“I’m here, Edelgard.”

_ “I’m going to leave the door to you and focus on getting Petra and Bernadetta out. Is that okay?” _

“Of course, I’ll handle everything. Let me know if you need more help.” Byleth was thankful for Hubert’s technology that was specific to their voices, amplifying them over the crowd on the coms. She continued ushering people out of the building. The door was looking like it would be the easy part of the heist now.

She pushed her way up to the doorway as the last of the people trickled out of the hall. The Great Hero King’s Emblem had disappeared into the box, leaving their fake exposed in the open gap of their magic box. Quickly, she pulled it closed, the first half of the magic trick was complete.

_ “Hubert, I’m at the studio door. It looks like a panel opened up when you cracked the swipe. It’s a biometric scanner.” _

“That wasn’t there last time.” Byleth commented, frowning. Why did Retzig suddenly install new security measures?

_ “I don’t see that on the system at all. It must be isolated. I can’t hack it remotely at all.” _

A stifled sob escaped from Bernadetta. 

_ “Are you able to come here and hack it in person?” _

_ “I won’t be able to keep the cameras off of us in the hallway in front of the studio.” _

A handful of security guards led by a few of Retzig’s personal guards approached her from the crowd, looking for an explanation. “Okay I’m going to some checks around the place to make sure everything is safe before I start letting people back in.” Byleth announced to them. The crowds were starting to get antsy outside. “Just keep the people calm. I’ll be back shortly.” Byleth turned from them and started heading deeper into the building. She had to stall this out for as long as she could, but not so long that the security guards started wandering the halls looking for her and possibly stumbling on the other Eagles still in the building.

_ “Can we just have Retzig open the door? Can Dorothea just tell him that she wants to see the studio?” _

_ “We won’t be having space to hide in the studio.” _

“Petra’s right. That studio is bare. Plus, Retzig will have his full posse of guards with him.”

_ “Okay, okay. Hubert,you keep the cameras off of us where you are then. Give me instructions on what you need me to do to open this door.” _

_ “Caspar, do you have some tools on you?”  _

_ “Yeah, I’m running over there now.” _

_ “There should be a model number underneath the biometric scanner. I need you to read it to me.” _

_ “JL26-2019.” _

Byleth pretended to check on a fire alarm, there was a security guard watching her through the window and so she gave him a grand show of dragging over a chair to poke at the device along the top of the wall. Eventually he gave up, continuing on his route around the estate.

_ “New model. Interesting.” _

_ “Hubert. I have Caspar’s tools. What do I need to do?” _

With a sigh, Byleth hopped off the chair and pushed it back where it belonged. Hopefully she could stall this out for as long as they would need.

_ “Open the side panel. Tell me what you see.” _

She did a sweep of the upper floor as she tuned out their technical back and forth over the coms. Carefully, she made sure she was always in full view of the camera feeds, looking particularly busy, hoping that the guards monitoring the security feeds would be more occupied by her presence than Edelgard hiding in the blindspot Hubert made. 

_ "Three wires. I can't see where they end up though. They run into the wall. And six flex cables that run from the motherboard to the scanner." _

_ "Okay there should be a thick cable with a large black clip-like thing that runs from the scanner and into the board. ” _

_ “Okay. I see it.” _

_ “Byleth you need to be back downstairs, Fenkey and some guards have come back inside.”  _

Byleth turned and rushed back down the stairs, trying her best to look surprised to find Fenkey standing in the middle of the empty hall. “There you are! We’ve been looking everywhere for you! Have you found the cause of the alarm? Are we ready for the guests to return now? Mr. Retzig is very displeased that this is taking so long.”

“Minor cooking mishap in the kitchens. But I still have to make sure the building is safe.” Byleth stated flatly. “These things can not be rushed.”

Fenkey glared at her, “Of course they can. You said it yourself, a minor kitchen mishap. Mr. Retzig has many connections, including the chief of the fire department. We have several other guests here at the event who can help finish the building inspection, as well as several of our own security detail.”

Byleth frowned. Of course Retzig did. 

She considered her options. While it was going to be much more difficult to keep Edelgard hidden with Retzig’s security people purposefully walking around versus the chaotic crowd of people that would rush in, Byleth could take the section where Edelgard was and buy them more time.

_ “We are having the replacement in place. Package secure.” _

_ “Byleth. We have guards on the lower floor.”  _

They were running out of time. “You can tell Mr. Retzig that it’s okay for the guests to return.” She had to go stall out the guards downstairs immediately, which meant leaving Fenkey as soon as she could.

“I’m going to go double check the smoke detectors downstairs.” Byleth called out over her shoulder as she hurried down the stairs. “One of them was blinking earlier when I walked by!” 

Fenkey blinked dumbly at her as she disappeared down the flight of stairs. She didn’t care that she seemed a little bit suspicious rushing away like that, that was a problem they could remedy once their immediate situation was solved.

_ “I can’t get the scanner hooked into my phone, Hubert.” _

_ “Try the other cable.” _ Hubert was very stressed. She could hear the strain in his voice.  _ “Byleth. Next hallway. You’ll catch them there.”  _

There was a flash of pink at the end of the hallway that Byleth turned into. Byleth blinked, confused. None of the guards wore pink. Hubert didn’t say anything about it so she opted to ignore it for now. Byleth skidded around the next corner, and caught sight of three guards walking down the hallway, away from her. “Sorry! Could you come help me?”

The three guards turned to look at her. Byleth flashed them her badge, “A couple of the smoke detectors on this floor have been malfunctioning, could you just give me a hand reaching them?” She held up her bandaged hand. “I can’t take the lid off with one hand.”

They looked at each other for a moment, silently communicating.

“Mr. Retzig wanted this area open as soon as possible, I can’t open it without these smoke detectors checked.” Byleth added, she kept her tone light, but her implied threat was clear. The guards followed after her, grumbling.

She had bought Edelgard a minute or so more at least.

Byleth directed the guards to a couple of smoke detectors in the next hallway over, telling them she just needed them to pop the lids off and pull the batteries out so they could power cycle.

_ “Edelgard, you’re running out of time.” _ Dorothea hissed.  _ “Guests are coming in. We’re on the way down.” _

_ “You have to get out of there for now, Edelgard. We’ll find a different way to get them out.” _

Byleth can hear Bernadetta’s stifled sob through the coms and Petra’s incomprehensible murmurings.

_ “What are you doing here? How did you get here?”  _ Edelgard's voice sounded surprised. 

_ “Who are you talking to? There’s nobody on the cameras.” _ There was a burst of static in Byleth’s earpiece that took everything in her not to react to. She resisted the urge to go rushing to Edelgard’s side. She had to keep these guards away from Edelgard and trust that Edelgard could handle herself.

It took them far too little time to do as she asked. 

_ “Edelgard, what is happening? What is your com doing? Does anyone have eyes on Edelgard or the studio? Petra? Bernadetta?” _

The guards started moving back towards their original spot where Byleth had found them, ready to continue whatever they were doing before this interruption. 

_ “We are having left with the package.” _

Byleth let herself breathe out in relief and let the guards go. She wasn’t sure how they got out but she was grateful all the same that things had seemingly worked out.

_ “Bring Bernadetta out to the van. I think she’s had enough for today. I’ll head back to look after her.”  _

“Thank you, Linhardt.” Byleth looked around, the security guards from earlier had vanished back around the corner. In their place, Edelgard appeared walking confidently toward her, despite all of her confidence, Byleth knew she was stressed. The taut bowstring that was her shoulders looked like it was ready to snap.

“How are things?” Edelgard asked. She fell into step with Byleth as they headed back to the main floor, to the crowd of people re-entering the estate. 

“We’re pretty much all finished. Just have to get the right door closed now,” Byleth scanned the crowd as they entered. Dorothea naturally stood out to her, leading Retzig away from them and deeper into the crowd like the carefully selected bait that she intended to be for a fish who thought he owned the pond. 

They arrived in front of the door unaccosted as the last few guests who wanted to enter the building trickled in, the crowd equilibrium had re-established itself it seemed. Byleth opened the flap in their magic box and began pulling out the fake. With the electromagnets activated, it was quite difficult to move even with Edelgard’s assistance. The two of them struggled with it for a while until a few other members of Retzig’s staff rushed over to help pull it closed again. 

Their magic trick was complete. All that was left was the clean up after the show.

They moved away from the door and back towards the crowds in the main hall. It would feel weird if they just kept lurking around the door now.

“You doing okay?” Byleth reached out and grabbed Edelgard’s hand as they reached the end of the hallway, stopping them from rejoining the noise for a moment. Her palms were clammy, the thin sheen of sweat that couldn’t be wiped away no matter how many times Edelgard dragged her hands across her slacks spoke volumes to Byleth.

Edelgard refused to meet her eyes, staring resolutely out at the crowd of nameless people. It didn’t seem like she wanted to talk about what had just happened earlier. And while Byleth was curious as to how Edelgard had eventually got the studio open, she didn’t want to press on the details right now. There were other more important things. “It’s been a long day.”

“You aren’t answering my question.”

“It’s been a while since I’ve had a job go sideways to this degree.”

“That’s still not answering my question."

“I could be better.” 

Byleth hummed softly to herself, accepting this answer. “We still have a little while of this pretentious party left over. I think it would be wrong of us to not  _ steal _ some enjoyment of our own.”

Edelgard raised her eyebrows at Byleth. “What did you have in mind?”

“Well there’s a room full of stuffy pretentious people here we can make fun of and people watch, and there’s very fancy snacks.”

“Snacks?”

Byleth nodded seriously. “Fancy snacks. There is some kind of a fish on crackers. Also caviar. I think there was saghert and cream around here somewhere. If you see anything you like, let minnow and we’ll sneak a bunch.” Still holding Edelgard’s hand, she led them around the outer edge of the gathering, making a beeline for the tables of food along the far edge.

Edelgard made a noise that was a cross between a cough and a snort. Byleth turned to look back at Edelgard, who was trying her best to stifle her laughter at her pun. “There’s more where that came from,” Byleth smiled, as Edelgard finally managed to resume her professional demeanour.

They lingered along the far wall behind all the food. Byleth filled her plate with an assortment of different fish on crackers and more fish on other things. Satisfied with the veritable feast that she accumulated, she retreated to Edelgard’s side. 

She glanced over the crowd, taking in the people dressed in glamorous and glitzy outfits, chattering with meaningless polite chitter. A glimpse of pink caught her eye again. A woman dressed in a short fashionable dress with matching thigh-highs, bright pink hair up in two pigtails. Said woman met her gaze evenly from across the hall, tilting her head in curiosity. She knocked back the rest of the champagne in her flute and wiggled her fingers at Byleth in a strange attempt at a wave

“Do you know that woman? Why is she waving like that?” Byleth asked, frowning at the now giggling woman.

Edelgard glanced up from her dessert at the woman that Byleth was indicating. Immediately she scowled, “Ignore her.”

“You know her?”

“Yes, unfortunately.” They watched the woman wink and blow them a kiss before disappearing out a side door toward the gardens. “She helped us with the scanner tonight.”

“Oh. Who is she?”

“I’ll fill you in later when there’s less people.” Edelgard replied tersely, still staring at the door that the woman had disappeared into.

“If you keep making that face, you’ll get wrinkles.” Byleth commented, running a finger down the wrinkles between Edelgard’s furrowed brow. “Then Dorothea will make you do some kind of long and complicated facial.”

The furrows became a deep red flush under Byleth’s finger and Edelgard turned her head away, unwilling to look at Byleth directly. Perhaps that was inappropriate. Byleth pulled away hastily. There were many items on her plate to examine.

A moment of silence passed between them. Edelgard elbowed it out of the way with a cough. “How are you doing?” Edelgard asked, halfway through her bowl of saghert and cream already. 

“I’m doing alright. Distracting the guards isn’t that big of a deal.” Byleth shrugged. Frowning, she inspected a piece of fish on a strangely thin piece of cracker that was much too pale for Byleth to trust putting it in her mouth. She sniffed it delicately. It did not smell right. Fish should not be paired with such an abomination.

Edelgard watched her inspect her food, it was like watching a child pick out the vegetables from their dinner. “No I meant in general. You know, this was supposed to be a distraction from other things. How are you feeling in that sense?”

“Oh.” Byleth paused, midchew, she had taken the piece of fish off the strange cracker. “I mean I still don’t have answers. But I won’t be getting them for a while. So there’s no point worrying about something that I won’t have the answers to. What I know right now is like bad fish, left out too long. If I try to make something with this bad fish, I’d just end up with food poisoning.”

Edelgard let out a small chuckle. “Even when you are saying something profound, it still has to do with fish.”

“It all has a porpoise.”

“Those aren’t technically fish, you know.”

* * *

The rest of the event passed uneventfully and by nearly three in the morning, the staff were all wearily picking up the remnants of the event as the last guest was sent home in a private car. 

_ “Safe and sound! I’m ready to kick off these heels and settle in with a glass of wine.” _

_ “Didn’t you already spend the whole evening drinking with Retzig, Dorothea?” _

_ “Ferdie, don’t be ridiculous. I didn’t want a sip of anything he was having. That man has no taste. He poured cola into his twenty-five year scotch. It was like babysitting a teenager who has access to their parents' expensive liquor cabinet.” _

_ “Truly blasphemous!”  _

_ “Please, reserve this line for work related things only. Thank you, Dorothea for checking in, but let’s get back to work.” _

_ “I’ve seen the bottle of scotch you’re hiding in your room, Hubie. I was just sticking up for you. But fine, I have picked up the car, I’ll meet you at the rendezvous point.” _

Byleth watched as four of the staff struggled again with their magic box, this time without any electromagnets, just sheer weight. Fenkey hovered nearby, very concerned about the very thing that they were stealing from under his nose.

“Well, it’s been nice working with you. Mr. Fenkey.” Edelgard smiled politely at the man, who looked absolutely exhausted. “I hope that you will install a permanent draft blocker in that gap for any future events.”

Byleth considered offering the man her best smile but ultimately decided against it, she wasn’t sure she could match the level of politeness that Edelgard was giving off. Instead, she stood impassively beside the cube van, their prize locked tightly within its doors.

“I’ll let Mr. Retzig know.” He gave Edeglard a look that said that he would not be doing anything of the sort, but was more than happy to let their loaded van out the front gates. 

Edelgard didn’t speak until they pulled out onto the highway, leaving the Retzig estate behind them. “We’re going to drop off the van back at the base, then we have a meeting to attend. Can you ask Hubert to meet us there with the paint?”

Byleth paused, puzzled. “Don’t you have your com?”

“No, it was an unfortunate casualty in opening the studio door.” Edelgard didn’t look over at Byleth, focused solely on the road before them. She was whiteknuckling the steering wheel, Byleth suppressed her curiosity for now.

“Hubert, we’re on our way back to the base with the package. Edelgard says we have a meeting to attend? She would like you to meet us there with the paint.”

_ “I suppose this explains the random address she texted me earlier tonight. We’re just about finished here. I’ll be there shortly.” _

“You seem stressed, Edelgard. Are you sure everything is alright?”

“It’s been a long day. The sooner we can get this all sorted out, the better things will be.” 

“You know you can tell me anything, right?” Byleth offered helpfully.

“I understand that, Byleth. And I appreciate the gesture. But there really isn’t anything you can do right at this moment. Maybe later.” She added that last part almost like a quiet footnote.

“Oh. Okay.” Byleth brightened immediately. Maybe later was good. Maybe later could be worked with.

The rest of the drive fell into an amiable silence until they finally pulled into the garage of the Black Eagles hideout, their cube van barely fitting into the space. 

“We should change.” Edelgard stated. “Can’t risk showing up to the public dressed like this.” 

Byleth nodded in agreement, glad to be free of the stuffy clothing she had been wearing all night. She sighed in relief as she shucked off the blazer and then the button down shirt, relishing the feeling of the cool air against her bare midriff. There was a squeak of embarrassment from behind her and she turned to find Edelgard covering her eyes with her hands.

“Edelgard?” Byleth asked, confused. 

“I didn’t mean here!” Edelgard squeaked, the tips of her ears flushing red.

“Oh. My apologies. I keep a change of clothes down here. I’ll go upstairs.” Byleth picked up her discarded blazer from the ground.

Edelgard peered at Byleth from the gaps between her fingers, turning even more red. “No no no. That’s not necessary, I’m going to go upstairs. I’ll be right back!” 

Byleth watched her fleeing form with a little bit of confusion. Was this inappropriate? Hastily, she slipped into one of the many fish patterned tank tops that she owned and stowed her other clothes on the shelf where she kept her other belongings down her. As she waited for Edelgard to return, she found herself staring at her bike longingly. It had been well over two weeks since she had last ridden it.

She flexed her injured hand a few times. The scrapes and splinters in her palm had pretty much receded into faint marks against the many lines of her hand. Most of the swelling and bruising around her knuckles had also gone down as well. Linhardt was being extra cautious and wrapping her hand as a reminder that she couldn’t go around punching things with it just yet. But she should be fine to ride her bike at this point. 

Mind made up, she retrieved her riding jacket from the hanger that she kept it on next to her bike. She was in the middle of strapping her helmet on when a noise from behind her made her turn again. 

Edelgard was in a matching set of riding leathers, holding a red helmet with a set of gold curling ram’s horns decals running along the top. “Looks like great minds think alike.” She commented wryly as she put on her helmet. 

Byleth flashed her a thumbs up, trying her best not to think about how good Edelgard looked in those leather pants. When had she gotten these? Had she always had them? Did everyone look this good in leather pants?

“Byleth?” Edelgard asked, waving her hand in front of Byleth’s visored face.

Byleth was glad that Edelgard couldn’t see her expression through the visor. Couldn’t see her staring. She startled to attention, “Where are we going?”

“You know that diner that we keep meeting Flayn in?”

“Do you think they still serve fish, at this hour?” Byleth asked as they clambered onto her bike, trying not to think about the warm presence of the person behind her, pressed against her.

“I guess you’ll find out.” 

* * *

It was easy to stop thinking about Edelgard being on the bike with her once they were zipping through the city. That wasn’t to say that she forgot Edelgard was there though, her arms wrapped tightly around Byleth’s waist. The rush of wind that came with the rush of adrenaline greeted Byleth like an old friend.

The trip was over all too quick, in Byleth’s opinion. She mourned the loss of the hum of life of the engine immediately as they dismounted and headed into the diner. The shock of pink hair from earlier sat in a large booth at the back, next to four familiar faces. Hubert was already present, glowering as he sipped from a steaming mug. Across the table sat Raphael, Ignatz, and Claude, in that order. Raphael had a large platter of pancakes in front of him that he was currently demolishing, while Ignatz was just holding his cup of tea with both of his hands.

Claude and their mystery woman had a large basket of yam fries between them, picking away at it at a steady clip. 

Byleth slid reached the booth first and slid into it. Only to pause after she had done so to realize that she now sat between Edelgard and her right hand hacker. Edelgard didn’t let her rectify the mistake though, sliding in smoothly after her even as she eyed Byleth with some exasperation.

“Claude.” Edelgard nodded, to him in greeting.

“Princess.” Claude’s smile was sure just like the last time Byleth had seen him.

“Ignatz. Raphael.  _ Hilda. _ ” Edelgard rolled her eyes at the last name of the list.

“Hey! I saved your ass back there.” Hilda smirked, popping another fry into her mouth. “The least you could do is be nice.”

“I would have preferred some sort of a heads up.” Edelgard retorted, she ordered a cup of black tea as the tired waitress wandered over.

Byleth glanced over the menu, was she hungry enough after all the snacks she ate at the Retzig’s event? Edelgard had hardly eaten as well, just the bowl of saghert and cream. Maybe if she ordered something shareable, Edelgard would have some. Fishsticks and fries it was, and some pineapple juice.

The booth waited for the lone waitress to leave before returning to their conversation. 

“Hilda is Claude’s inhouse hacker.” Edelgard explained to Byleth. She looked quite uncomfortable. “She got the studio door open.”

Byleth looked over the people sitting across from her. Claude had a forger, a hacker, Raphael had all the makings of a hitter- it felt like Claude had the people to rival the Black Eagles if he so desired. 

Hubert made a noise of disdain from his spot beside Byleth. 

“Hey! I heard that, you coffee-sucking vampire.” Hilda sniped from across the table. “You’re just jealous that I have robots and AI to do all the dirty work for me.”

“Hubert, please.” Edelgard sighed, cutting in before Hubert could snap back at Hilda. Byleth watched the exchange with wide eyed curiosity and some amusement. Hubert being riled up like this was always interesting. “Why were you there tonight?” Edelgard questioned, folding her hands neatly on her lap. Her question was directed mostly at Hilda, but Ignatz raised his hand to interrupt. 

“After our conversation at the studio when Raphael came to pick me up, Raphael and I had a long dicussion and he convinced me that it was best to come clean with Claude.” Ignatz admitted. 

Raphael nodded furiously from his seat next to Ignatz. “It's not my job to understand a lot of the mind games people play, that’s Claude’s.”

Claude grinned at them, “I mean I knew what was up. I was just waiting for them to tell me.”

Edelgard rolled her eyes, “I think you’re the vampire, Claude. You just  _ have _ to be invited.”

“It’s only polite.” Claude gestured at Edelgard with a floppy yam fry. “But I appreciate that you got involved anyway.”

“It’s only polite.” Edelgard echoed his words back at him in lieu of a response. 

The conversation paused as the waitress returned with their food and drinks. Byleth added a large dollop of ketchup to her plate and dipped a fishstick in it. Edelgard watched her silently as she ate it. Upon noticing her gaze, Byleth offered her a ketchup covered fishstick, which she accepted with a sigh, much to the amusement of the people on the other side of the booth.

“Claude?” 

Claude’s piercing gaze switched over to focus on Byleth at the sound of his name. “Yes?”

“What business do you run?”

He looked at her with great amusement. “What do you mean?”

“You run a business association do you not? What business do you run?” 

His grin only grew wider at her words, “I mean I do work as an information broker. But I own a fencing business on the side.”

Edelgard groaned quietly into her cup of tea.

“My business association keeps me in the loop with all the different going-ons around Fodlan and gives me new contacts for future fencing contracts.”

“I see.” Byleth nodded to herself as she offered Edelgard another fishstick. She took it from her absentmindedly.

“Byleth, he’s a fence.” Edelgard deadpanned.

_ Oh. _ That made a lot more sense now. It would also make sense why he needed his business association membership to be so locked down. Byleth figured there was some sort of an economy around what the Black Eagles did. You couldn’t exactly just steal art for a living as a standalone operation, there had to be other processes behind the scenes.

“Good fences make good neighbours.” Byleth nodded to herself sagely and took a sip of her juice. 

Edelgard rubbed her temple tiredly while Claude and Hilda looked like two cats who had just gotten the cream. Raphael was still too busy with his food while Ignatz just laughed to himself awkwardly. Hubert seemed unimpressed as usual.

“Princess, I like her.” Claude waggled another yam fry at Byleth while he smirked at Edelgard. “If you ever get tired of the Black Eagles, the Golden Deer Business Association could use someone like you.”

“Stop trying to poach my- uh” Edelgard stumbled over her words, suddenly at a loss for the right term. “Byleth. Stop trying to poach her.”

Everyone stared at her. 

Even Hubert, who did a remarkable job of looking amused and neutral at the same time. 

“ _ Your  _ Byleth? Possessive much?” Hilda remarked, nudging Claude’s ribs with her elbow, eyes sparkling with mirth.

“No! That’s not what I meant!” Edelgard nearly shouted, remembering that they were still in a public space at the last second and lowering her voice. “I didn’t know if I should use group member or crew because your role isn’t really defined in the Black Eagles so I couldn’t just use your title like everybody else.”

The table fell silent, still looking at her, most of them still amused- even Raphael, who’s attention had been drawn away from his pancakes for the moment.

Byleth smiled gently at Edelgard. “Don’t worry. We understand. You are the leader of the Black Eagles and I am a part of your team after all so I think it’s okay if you referred to me as ‘my Byleth.’”

The words were out of her mouth before she could stop herself. 

Oh wait. She probably shouldn’t have said that. Why did she say that? There were too many implications behind her words that could be misconstrued. This was not what she had intended. 

If Byleth thought that she had seen Edelgard turn red before, she was sorely mistaken. Her face nearly matched the red of her helmet. She sputtered for a moment, then closed her eyes and counted to ten under her breath. “Byleth,” her voice was a little bit higher than normal when she opened her eyes and spoke again. “We will talk about this later. I don’t want to hear a word from the rest of you about this incident, or else.” Edelgard let the unspoken threat hang in the air.

Raphael and Ignatz nodded vigorously while Claude and Hilda mimed zipping their lips.

‘Sorry,’ Byleth mouthed silently at Edelgard as she got settled with her cup of tea again.

‘Later,’ Edelgard made a hand waving gesture under the table at Byleth.

Oh no, she had overstepped.

“Interesting incident aside,” Claude smirked at Edelgard, “I can get you anything you need. Fancy equipment? Obscure parts? Rare pieces of art? Your enemies’ deepest secrets?” Claude jerked a thumb at himself smugly. “I work all over Fodlan.”

“He brokers the sales of some of the things that we pick up but don’t actually want to keep. Sometimes we take contracts from him.” Edelgard explained. “He can be annoying, but he hasn’t cheated us yet.”

“I’m glad we have your vote of confidence. It’s always nice to have friendly faces in this line of work.”

“Next time let us know to expect your face while we’re working or else it won’t be so friendly.” Edelgard warned.

“Aye aye, princess.” A beep interrupted whatever he was going to say next. Claude checked the smartwatch on his wrist. “Well, that’s our cue to go.” He dug through his inner coat pocket for a moment and pulled out a few different bills, more than enough to cover the bill, and tossed it on the table. “Thanks for helping our boys out. I won’t forget that.”

“Please do forget that.” Edelgard groused.

“I’ll see you around,” Hilda smirked, doing her weird finger waving thing at them again. 

“Hopefully not,” Hubert grumbled under his breath.

“Thank you so much for your help. I’m really sorry about all the trouble that I caused.” Ignatz shook Edelgard’s hand frantically as he left, his can of paint cradled close to his chest. He would have shaken it for longer if Raphael hadn’t patted him on the shoulder and ushered him out the door. 

"I'll make sure he stays out of trouble." Raphael added, before disappearing out the door.

“Are they always like this?” Byleth asked, amused as she watched them all pile into a tiny electric car, Raphael’s giant form taking up the bulk of the backseat.

“Unfortunately.” Edelgard finished the last of her tea. “We’re going to head out now, Hubert. Byleth?”   


Byleth looked up at Edelgard. She looked tired, stressed, and she was frowning down at Byleth.

“We should talk.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter took forever to write :( I had 4 different iterations of how this heist would end before finally settling on this one. (Sometimes it just be like that I guess.) (SOMEONE GIVE BERNIE A HUG)
> 
> In other news, I'm going to slow down my update schedule as I am returning to work now. This is just to give myself enough time to write new chapters that I am happy with (and sometimes rewrite them 4 times) and because I didn't want to post little 2k chapters every week. So I think I'll update once every two-ish weeks? We'll see how work messes with my writing schedule.
> 
> (I also have other one-shot projects in the pipeline I would like to work on as well. It's nice to be writing different things.)
> 
> So don't worry if there isn't a new chapter next week! I'm still working on it! This story is coming up on a major arc and I'm excited for you all to read it- but I want to make sure this arc is up to par.
> 
> As always. Your kind comments and kudos are much appreciated! (If you need something to tide you over, there are a few oneshots on my profile you can check out hehe :) )
> 
> Thank you for reading! Stay safe and I'll see you soon :D


	12. The Black Eagles II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Byleth and Edelgard have a talk.
> 
>   
> Byleth decides to throw a lil party for the Black Eagles.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise! It's me! A day early lol. I realized I won't have time to post my update tomorrow at work, so I guess Sunday's will be my update day? So here we are! It's a longish chapter almost 9k. 
> 
> (It's a fun one hehehe)

_“We should talk.”_

Byleth nodded mutely, following Edelgard out to the parking lot. Edelgard watched her, thinking carefully over her words.

It had been a long and stressful day. Perhaps she should hold off on this talk until later? She didn’t even really know what to talk about. She regretted telling Byleth that they needed to talk. What were they going to talk about? That last little quip from Byleth had sent her thoughts into a spiral. She barely had a grip on her feelings, she couldn’t really be certain of Byleth’s.

“Edelgard?” 

“Yes, Byleth?”

The other woman looked up at her unblinkingly, those big blue eyes reflecting the moonlight like a beautiful expanse of sparkling water. For someone who didn’t know how to swim, it ought to scare Edelgard. But she didn’t feel any fear. Maybe that was more terrifying.

“You wanted to talk?”

Edelgard stared at Byleth, drawing on courage from the deep blue well in Byleth’s eyes. It was now or never. “Byleth, what are we?”

“Thieves?” Byleth asked, confused.

Edelgard pinched the bridge of her nose exasperatedly. 

“ _Gay_ thieves?” Byleth tried again. “I mean I didn’t want to assume anything-”

“No, no, you are correct.” Edelgard sighed. 

There was a silent beat as they both stared at each other. 

Byleth broke the silence first. “Edelgard, do you have feelings for me?”

Edelgard stared harder, how had Byleth suddenly gone from gay thieves to asking if Edelgard had feelings for her? How had her mind even made that connection? It hurt Edelgard’s head to think about Byleth’s strange thought processes.

“It’s alright if you don’t! I didn’t mean to imply-” Byleth hastily backpedalled on her words.

Edelgard leaned forward and grabbed Byleth’s face, cupping her cheeks gently. Byleth’s words faded in her throat. Her skin was soft under Edelgard’s hands. They were so close right now, Byleth’s lips parted in anticipation, giving Edelgard a second rush of courage, if Edelgard just leaned forward slightly- there was a flash of something unrecognizable in Byleth’s eyes. Edelgard pulled back so she could see Byleth’s entire face again. 

A slight panic.

“I do have feelings for you, Byleth. I know it’s a lot to take in right now. And this might be a terrible time and I should have waited and if you don’t feel the same way or need to leave the Eagles-”

It was Byleth’s turn to interrupt Edelgard rambling. “I’m not leaving the Eagles, or you. Don’t worry. I do like you, Edelgard. There’s just a lot to deal with, especially given recent events.” 

It felt like someone rang a bell in her skull as Byleth’s words sank in. It felt like a great weight had been lifted off her chest.

_Byleth liked her._

Edelgard blushed, realizing that she was still holding Byleth’s face in her hands. She knew that if she pulled away now her hands would be shaking with sheer happiness, maybe if she did it quickly? Byleth caught her hands as they retreated, holding them gently.

“I would like to give us a chance.” Byleth said, still holding Edelgard’s hands. “But I am not in the right mindset to handle a full fledged relationship right now. If you wouldn’t mind taking things slow and see how things develop?”

Edelgard looked at Byleth, so warm and open and genuine. She wanted to give them a try, even now, in the face of everything else. “I’m very okay with that.” Edelgard echoed Byleth’s earlier phrase and smiled. “We’ll lay out some ground rules and boundaries. But you have to promise me that even if you feel the slightest bit uncomfortable, you have to tell me and we go back to what we were before, no judgment.” She had no idea what they were before and if she could ever return to such a state, but for Byleth, she knew she had to try.

Byleth smiled. “That’s a good idea. They say that honesty is the best policy.”

Edelgard stared down at their intertwined hands. “Is this okay?” She asked, swinging their hands back and forth a little bit.

Byleth looked down at their hands as well. “Very okay.”

“That’s very good.” Edelgard mumbled, feeling suddenly shy and awkward.

“In the spirit of keeping up our new honesty policy. Would you tell me what’s bothering you?” Byleth asked, still letting Edelgard swing their hands back and forth.

Edelgard swallowed dryly. She wasn’t expecting this line of conversation at all. But still. The encouraging look that Byleth was giving her in the middle of a nearly empty diner parking lot- she caught Hubert sneaking into a white SUV on the other side of the road earlier, made Edelgard take a deep breath in to steady herself. 

Byleth was right. They had just taken a big step forward together. She couldn’t let herself be forced backwards like this. She gave herself a moment to gather her thoughts.

In that moment other emotions suddenly rushed forward, battling against the earlier elation that she felt. The tumultuous feelings of guilt and disappointment clashed uneasily inside her. 

She was the leader of the Black Eagles who couldn’t get the door open to save her own crew, Edelgard thought to herself bitterly. _Hilda_ had to come flying in all smug and glamorous and crack open the door like it was child's play. She had to borrow Edelgard’s com to do so- something about needing to piggyback off of Hubert’s signal, but still, _Hilda_ had rescued Petra and Bernadetta. 

She should get Hubert to go over the broken com just in case Hilda did something sneaky to it, she wouldn’t put it past them.

“Claude and Hilda get under my skin sometimes. I also hate being indebted to people, never mind them” Edelgard sighed and looked out into the night. The cool breeze felt heavenly against her sweaty skin. 

“I don’t think you’re indebted to them.”

“It doesn’t feel that way.”

Edelgard could feel Byleth’s eyes on her. Studying her. “I think that’s an okay feeling to have. But I think we both know what’s bothering you right now.”

“And you think you know what is bothering me right now?” She rounded on Byleth but didn’t make a move to pull away. Her words came out a lot angrier than she intended. She took a deep breath. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to lose control like that.”

“Then lose control,” Byleth replied calmly, her eyes never leaving hers.

“What?”

“You heard me. What’s wrong with losing control? You always hold everything so close to your chest. Nobody knows what you’re thinking. How can the Eagles help you if they don’t know what you need? I may be a lot of things, Edelgard. But I can’t read your mind.”

_That was the whole point. She didn’t want anyone to know what she was thinking, what she was feeling._

“Edelgard, I can’t help you if you don’t talk to me. Didn’t you feel better after you just confessed your feelings for me?” Byleth’s smile was still gentle, warming Edelgard more the more that she looked at her.

“Yes,” She relented after a moment of considering things. “I don’t know what you want me to say.”

Byleth shrugged. “Whatever you want to say. What’s bothering you? There are no right or wrong answers.”

“I just feel... _useless._ ” Edelgard finally settled on. The word caught in her throat, tearing at the very fibre of her entire being.,

“Because of what happened during the heist?”

Edelgard nodded. 

“You know that we could not have possibly accounted for all of those things. No matter how much planning and preparing we do beforehand, it’s a risk we have to take every time.”

“I know that. But I just feel like I should have been able to get the door open. It feels like I didn’t keep my promise to Bernadetta after all. I asked her to trust me to get her out of the room and I was not able to.”

Byleth gave her a strange look. “I don’t think Bernadetta feels the same way about this.”

Edelgard remained silent. Unwilling to voice any more of the fears and doubts in her mind. She had said enough tonight, opened the gates to the walls she built too much already- although sometimes it really did feel like Byleth could simply phase through whatever walls Edelgard had put up, no matter how tall or thick.

“I think you should talk to Bernadetta about this. I might not be the best example given _you know_ , but I think talking to Bernadetta will help.”

“Perhaps. It’ll be okay. The feeling will pass. They always do. But maybe it’s time for a change of scenery.” Edelgard hummed thoughtfully. 

“I wouldn’t mind that. Derdriu has been nice.” Edelgard was glad that Byleth let the subject drop, for now at least. She knew that this would come up again eventually, Byleth was tenacious like that. Byleth made a small noise that made Edelgard look over at her. Her face was gently screwed up in concentration. “I think it would be a shame if we just left like this though.”

“Left like what?”

“Like this. Stressed and unhappy.”

“I’m not unhappy!” Edelgard defended. Maybe she had been too quick to jump on the defensive on that one.

“No, you’re not.” Byleth teased. “But let’s unwind a little bit before we leave Derdriu behind.” Byleth’s gentle smile had Edelgard agreeing before she could really think too much about it. “We’ve been here for what? A month and a half?”

“Almost two months.” Edelgard corrected.

“Let’s just do something to relax. No heists, no work. Just some good clean fun.”

“Just the two of us?” 

“With the whole group!” Byleth’s expression of joy and excitement was contagious enough to wash away any disappointment Edelgard felt. There was such genuineness to Byleth that Edelgard couldn’t help but join in with her. “Oh, did you want to do something with just the two of us?” Byleth’s expression changed over to one of curiosity and contemplation. 

Edelgard shook her head. “No that’s okay. We’ll have lots of time for that. We rarely get relaxing outings as an entire group.”

Byleth frowned, “If you’re sure.” 

“Very sure. What would you like to do?” 

“That’s a surprise. It’ll be a farewell party of sorts.” Byleth was swinging their hands in larger arcs now, fuelled by the excitement of whatever her surprise idea was. “You’ll see!”

Edelgard found herself looking forward to it, whatever _it_ was.

* * *

The surprise Byleth spoke of took place a few days later. She dashed around the Black Eagles homebase, with all of the excitement of a child being told they were going on a vacation. The rest of the Black Eagles were also not immune to such an infectious mood.

That was how Edelgard found herself at the beach. Even Hubert was present, iced coffee in hand, slathered evenly in sunscreen. Bernadetta was huddled under a large beach umbrella with her art supplies and sketch book. Under several layers of sunscreen, she looked even paler than usual, nearly on par with Hubert, who sat next to her on the blanket.

“Caspar, you need to put sunscreen on!” Linhardt schlepped across the sand, dual wielding two different bottles of sunscreen.

“I already have sunscreen on!” Caspar yelled over his shoulder, laughing as he ran across the sand, away from LInhardt, stumbling in the uneven terrain. 

“Caspar, that’s just some bug spray. Those are not the same!”

“Do you want to help me put some sunscreen on my back, Petra?” Dorothea all but purred, crooking her finger at their resident thief. 

Petra almost tripped over Ferdinand’s chair in her haste as Dorothea laid down on her beach towel and unfastened her bikini top.

Similarly, Ferdinand laid on a lounge chair, fashionable shades settled firmly over his eyes. 

“I think Ferdinand could use a little sunscreen as well, Hubert.” Edelgard teased. “His abs are looking a little red. We don’t want those abs to burn now, do we?”

Her only reply was a beach towel flung haphazardly in her direction, Hubert very pointedly ignoring her.

She nearly shrieked at the sensation of something cold pressing against the back of her neck. She looked up to find Byleth in a very classy black and white two piece swimsuit, offering her a cold bottle of pop, and found that suddenly any noises she could make had died in her throat. Her shriek dwindled down to what could only be described as a pathetic whine.

Edelgard forced herself to look away from Byleth. The white straps that crossed in front and then behind Byleth’s neck to hold the top up only drew her eye upwards toward the ample cleavage that was in plain view. It also gave her a good look at the nasty scar that she had caught a glimpse of before, running from Byleth’s clavicle and ending just above her bikini top. 

Dorothea looked up from her spot in the sun at the sound of Edelgard dying and smirked. “Byleth told me that she didn’t own a swimsuit and I had this swimsuit laying around in my closet, and it just so happened to fit her.” 

“Dorothea was very kind to lend me this swimsuit,” Byleth nodded vigorously. She held out the drink to Edelgard again.

Edelgard accepted the drink, eager to have something else to focus on.

“I think that after seeing you in it, Byleth. The swimsuit is yours.” Dorothea languidly settled back onto her towel, humming in contentment as Petra worked at a knot between her shoulder blades. “Petra, have I ever told you that you have magical hands?”

Petra hummed her agreement, eyebrows furrowed in concentration.

Edelgard opened the bottle and took a long swig from it as Byleth settled down on the blanket next to Edelgard. She was surprised to find that it was a light peach flavour, when had Byleth understood her tastes so well? The outside of Byleth’s knee bumped against Edelgard’s but she didn’t move it away. Even though the heat and humidity made everything feel sticky, Edelgard still relished in the physical contact.

“Do you not like the beach?” Byleth asked as she settled back on her hands, taking in the sight of the crystal waters before them. 

“No, the beach is fine. The sun and I don’t get along very much.” Edelgard tugged at the sleeves of her light linen shirt, suddenly self conscious of her outfit choice. She didn’t mention the other reason that she wasn’t up for wandering along the beach.She leaned back on one hand as well, almost mimicking Byleth’s posture, sliding her hand so that her fingers fit snugly in the gap under Byleth’s palm. 

Byleth smiled and patted Edelgard’s long skirt covered knee with her other hand. “Don’t worry. There is still lots to do in the shade.” 

Edelgard flushed, even in the cool shade provided by the large beach umbrella, it suddenly felt much too warm. 

“Here,” Byleth dug through a large duffel bag that she had brought with her and pulled out several different kinds of sweets and a chessboard. “Do you play?”

“I have not for a while. There isn’t much opportunity to play while we are working.”

“Well, I think this is an excellent opportunity then.” Byleth smiled, handing Edelgard the snacks while she began to set up the chessboard between them in a fashion that still allowed them to sit side by side instead of facing each other. Edelgard swallowed dryly as Byleth began putting the pieces into place, leaning over to set up Edelgard’s side of the board- giving her a much too vivid look at and down her cleavage and her abs, glistening with sweat. She looked upwards before anyone could catch her staring.

This was going to be a distracting challenge.

Abs or not, Edelgard was never one to back down from a challenge, 

Finished with the set up, Byleth took Edelgard’s hand again, smiling as she gestured at the board with her own free hand.

Maybe this was too much of a challenge.

* * *

The Black Eagles lounged around in the sand and surf for the majority of the day. Byleth won every single chess match that they played- and it wasn’t just because of her abs distracting Edelgard’s train of thought (although Edelgard caught herself staring more than once). Her strategies, like her heist ideas, were strange and unorthodox, always catching Edelgard off guard.

Eventually, Caspar called Byleth away to join their game of beach volleyball, in which he was soundly losing to Dorothea, Petra, and Ferdinand. Linhardt refused to help Caspar, instead opted to sit back on Ferdinand’s now vacated lounge chair with a book. Edelgard watched them from the safety of her umbrella, amused at the image of Ferdinand diving for the ball and eating a faceful of sand.

“I’m going to get some more coffee. Do either of you want anything?” Hubert asked as he got up, dusting off the imaginary sand from his joggers. He had been meticulous about not allowing sand onto the blanket. Edelgard wondered how he wasn’t warm with a dark t-shirt and button down on.

“I’m fine, thank you Hubert.”

“M-Me too!” Bernadetta squeaked, clutching her sketchbook to her chest.

Edelgard waited for Hubert to leave before turning to Bernadetta. Byleth’s advice had pestered her for that last little while, leaving her to mull over things in her head late into the night. This was the perfect opportunity to at least give it a try. Even if she didn’t feel any better about things, she could at least tell Byleth (and the voice inside her head) that she tried. “Are you doing alright, Bernadetta?”

“Y-Yes? I-I mean it is very warm out. A-And I usually don’t like to stay outside this long. B-But this is surprisingly okay. Oh no. I-I shouldn’t have said that it was just okay. Please don’t be offended! I-It is very okay!” Bernadetta waved her hands frantically in front of her as if that would help her case.

“I’m not offended, Bernadetta. I didn’t get a chance to check in with you after the last heist so I just wanted to do so now. I apologize for not doing so earlier.” Edelgard said gently, waving her hand at their resident forger in what she hoped was a calming manner.

“Oh. D-Don’t worry! I’m fine!”

Edelgard narrowed her eyes at the other woman. “Bernadetta. You were never very good at lying. I know that being locked in like that is a traumatic experience for you. That can’t have been easy, but you carried on and finished your task anyway.”

“W-Well, you got me out of there, like you promised. I-I think having a task to focus on even if it was really as simple as drawing a little deer on a paint can that a baby could’ve drawn really helped. O-Oh no, I didn’t mean to imply that the task was beneath me or anything!”

Edelgard sighed and got up, crossing the brief strip of intense sunlight between their two beach umbrellas so that she could sit next to Bernadetta. “It’s okay. I didn’t really keep my promise to you anyway, so I wouldn’t worry about your implications.”

Bernadetta peered at her over her sketchbook confusedly, “W-What do you mean Edelgard? P-Petra and I are both here safe and sound now.”

“Yes. But I didn’t open the door to let you out. Hilda was the one who did that.” Edelgard knew she sounded more bitter than she intended to. She looked down at the sand where a tiny hermit crab was scuttling away.

“A-Are you upset that Hilda stole your thunder?” 

Edelgard’s head snapped up to stare at Bernadetta so fast that Bernadetta let out a small eep of surprise. “No?”

“I-I’m not sure what you’re upset about then, if I’m being perfectly honest- please don’t hate me!”

“I promised that I would get you out of there, and I was unable to accomplish that. How can I be the leader of the Black Eagles if I can’t take care of you?”

“B-But you do! It doesn’t matter how you keep your promise because you kept it! It doesn’t matter who had to actually open the door in the end because Petra and I are still here!” Bernadetta was surprisingly stern, pointing a finger at Edelgard’s face with determination that she had never seen before. “You make sure we’re all safe and you make the right calls and keep everyone functioning at their best! If that isn’t taking care of us, then I don’t know what is!” Her voice suddenly dropped to barely above a whisper, voice thick with emotion. “ You’ve taken better care of me than my own family ever has anyway.”

“Bernadetta?” Edelgard asked tentatively as the other woman buried her face in her sleeves, her shoulders quivering.

“I-I’m s-sorry. I-I just need a m-minute.” 

Edelgard barely registered that her own body was moving before she found her own arms wrapped around Bernadetta’s shoulders, pulling her close into a hug. She gently tugged the sketchbook out of Bernadetta’s hands, laying it face down on the blanket before anyone else could see and before tears could soak Bernadetta’s prized pieces of work.

“It’s okay, Bernadetta. You’re a Black Eagle now. And I’m not going to let anything happen to you. I’ve promised you that once, and I’ll do it again and again and again.” Edelgard rubbed gentle circles into the hiccupping girl’s back. She was wholly out of her element here but Bernadetta was her charge to protect.

“She’s right, Bernadetta. The Eagles won’t let anything happen to you.” Edelgard looked up past the unruly mop of purple hair in her face to find Byleth, covered in a gleaming layer of sweat and sand beaming at them, the other Eagles not far behind her.

“Group hug?” Caspar asked, his smile bright enough to rival the sun. Without even waiting for a response he tossed the ball to the side and scooped up an indignant Linhardt in his arms. Even with the flailing Linhardt, Caspar dove forward, “Group hug!” His tackle caught both Dorothea and Petra with Linhardt’s legs and Byleth with Linhardt’s shoulders.

Fortunately, Byleth’s instincts were better than Caspar’s harebrained ideas and she curled her form around Bernadetta and Edelgard protectively, preventing the flailing tangle of limbs from smacking them in the head. It also meant that Edelgard found herself with an ungoddessly face full of cleavage as Byleth’s form was pressed into them by the weight of four people. Edelgard let the momentum carry them backwards into the blanket, hoping not only to get her face away from being pressed into Byleth’s chest but also to make the impact lighter.

It didn’t work as well as she hoped. Especially since Ferdinand decided to come running and flop into the mass of bodies as well. 

“I leave for five minutes and this is what happens?” Edelgard could barely make out Hubert’s smirk with Byleth’s form pressed into her, a new cup of iced coffee in his hand.

“Hubert! Join us!” Caspar called out from somewhere in the pile, his voice muffled but full of laughter.

“And get sand all over myself? Absolutely not.” Hubert took a cool sip of his drink and adjusted his shirt, looking down upon all of them smugly. The smirk on his face vanished a moment later when Ferdinand and Dorothea each grabbed a fistful of his clothes and yanked him down into the pile. “Do not spill my drink!”

“You okay?” Edelgard’s eyes turned back to the alarmingly attractive woman of her affections she was pressed against. Even with the thin layer of linen that Edelgard wore, Edelgard could feel Byleth’s slightly sticky skin pressed against her.

“Y-Yeah,” Edelgard stammered, trying her best not to ogle Byleth too obviously.

Byleth pushed herself up into a pushup position, relieving Edelgard and Bernadetta of the weight of the people on top of them. Edelgard mourned the loss of contact but the view of Byleth’s arms and abs flexing above her made up for it.

“Bernadetta, you okay?” Byleth looked down at their forger, curled up in Edelgard’s arms.

“Y-Yeah.” She sniffled, her tears mostly dry now. She turned to face Edelgard. “I just want you to know that I think you’re a pretty good leader and you always keep your promises.”

Byleth’s dazzling smile down at Edelgard felt like the sunshine that she had been hiding from all day. Edelgard blushed in response, at a loss for words.

“Okay, everybody up now. There is sand everywhere and I am getting hungry!” Linhardt’s angry grumble sounded from somewhere in the middle of everyone. 

It took them a moment for everyone to untangle themselves and settle back in their respective bubbles of space- although Byleth was content to share Edelgard’s bubble, even dusting all the sand that clung to her skin off before settling in beside her. Little snacks were quickly handed out and devoured, drinks also passed around and drained as the Black Eagles made the best of the rest of their trip to the beach. 

Edelgard leaned back on her hands, barefeet cautiously tracing idle patterns in the sound. The sun was beginning to set, the sky set aflame by the dying light. The other Black Eagles had exhausted themselves and were similarly lazing around. Edelgard took a deep breath, letting the scent of the sea and sand and fading light fill her lungs. 

This was a perfect moment, she decided, content to sit in the moment for just a little while longer.

Letting Byleth plan this outing was an excellent idea. _Letting Byleth._ Like she needed Edelgard’s permission to do anything really.

She glanced over at the other woman, who was splayed out on a towel next to Edelgard, dozing lazily. A calloused hand made its way across the little strip of sand between their towels and rested itself on Edelgard’s hand. Even with her eyes closed, Byleth was smiling softly over at Edelgard.

 _This_ was the perfect moment, Edelgard amended.

Byleth had redressed herself in a fish patterned tank top and board shorts. Edelgard was glad that she had noted down where she saw fish patterned tank tops. Her estimates on Byleth’s shirt size were pretty spot on it seemed, even without Dorothea’s fashion expertise.

There were a wide variety of colours and fish patterns in differing combinations. So many different tank tops that Edelgard eventually stopped trying to decide which one Byleth would like best after thirty minutes of standing in the middle of the store in front of the rack of shirts and simply bought one of every colour and pattern.

It seemed like that was a decision that paid off.

Byleth.

What was Edelgard going to do with her, and these _feelings_ ? It would be terribly unprofessional of her if these feelings got in the way of their work- that could also be disastrous. There was the matter that Byleth _did_ return her feelings. Even thinking about it made Edelgard’s heart skip.

They were still taking things slow, Edelgard reminded herself. There were no noticeable changes in their behaviour since they had that talk- aside from maybe a little more purposeful physical contact. Now that she knew that little bits of contact like holding hands or sitting a little bit closer was welcome, she couldn’t help but seek it.

Maybe she should talk to Caspar or Linhardt about how they managed things. The pair of them were as efficient as ever. But did she really want to have that conversation with them though?

Maybe she’d deal with it when it came up. She was content to enjoy whatever this new step in their relationship was.

Wait, was this a relationship?

Edelgard frowned and decided to push that thought to the back of her mind for later. She wasn’t going to let that ruin her perfectly good day.

The sun was long gone by the time their stomachs sounded off again. “Where should we go for dinner?” Caspar enthused, looking more than a little sunburned, helping pack up the large unwieldy umbrellas. 

“There are lots of restaurants along the boardwalk and within walking distance.” Ferdinand suggested, he too had skin to match his hair.

“That is sounding wonderful!” Petra exclaimed, clearly excited by the prospect of dinner. 

With dinner to look forward to, the rest of the clean up went by quickly and soon enough the Black Eagles found themselves wandering leisurely down the boardwalk, clumped together in pairs or threes so they wouldn’t steal the entire boardwalk. They might be thieves, but they were _classy_ thieves after all.

“What are we feeling like?” Dorothea asked everybody but nobody in particular as they passed brightly lit restaurants and bustling crowds of people enjoying the nice summer day. 

“No salads please,” Caspar shouted from the back of the group. 

Dorothea winced with the volume of his voice, “Duly noted, Caspar.”

Byleth was humming something under her breath as they walked, shoulder to shoulder. It was obscenely hot out and any thoughts of holding hands as they walked quickly went out the window at first sweaty palm contact. Instead, they walked with their pinkies linked, swinging gently in time with their steps. If the other Eagles noticed, they certainly didn[‘t say anything. 

A particularly large crowd around a quaint little restaurant drew Edelgard’s attention. There was a big neon bowl of curry above the front door, written in extremely bright lights was the restaurant name: Curry On My Wayward Bun.

It looked like they sold different types of curry in freshly made bread bowls.

Right next to the door was a giant sign, nearly taller than Edelgard, herself. Edelgard stopped in her tracks as she took in the sign, leaving Hubert to nearly bowl her over.

“This is why you shouldn’t look at your phone while we walk,” Ferdinand chastised, steadying the hacker beside him as Byleth caught Edelgard.

“Did you see something you want?” Byleth asked Edelgard, dusting off Edelgard’s collar. Edelgard knew that she was checking her over to make sure she was okay.

Edelgard heard Dorothea's stifled peal of laughter at Byleth’s question, making Edelgard blush harder all the same. “I just want to look at this sign.” Edelgard replied, deciding to ignore Dorothea for now. 

Edelgard couldn’t believe her eyes. “A limited edition giant armoured Bearos bear plushie? I haven’t seen these since I was a child. I thought they discontinued the Bearos bear plushies a long time ago.” She used to have a collection of Bearos plushies as a child- long lost to the trials of time unfortunately. Even when she went looking for them as an adult, and now expert thief, they were nearly impossible to find.

“Hey, that’s pretty cute.” Byleth’s head popped up over Edelgard’s shoulder, peering around her form to get a good look at the sign. “It says that you can win one if you finish an entire fire bowl in thirty minutes.” The bright red curry inside of a bread bowl with ten chili pepper symbols next to it looked almost evil.

“That would explain the line,” Hubert added.

Edelgard looked to her right, the crowd around the front of the restaurant snaked down and around the block. It would take them forever to even set foot in the door. Her stomach growled, reminding her that it was probably not wise to stand in line for a bowl of curry that made her insides burn just thinking about it to try to get the bear. 

“Do you want to eat here?” Byleth asked, sizing up the line.

“No, no. That’s okay. I don’t do very well with spice. I just remember having one of these bears as a child. It just surprised me to see it again. Let’s keep moving.” She gave one last mournful look at the bear, and continued walking. She couldn’t turn and look back, lest she fall victim to some poor decisions.

“I smell something delicious coming from this way,” she called out to the rest of the Eagles, head held high as she continued along down the boardwalk, completely missing the strange look Byleth gave her as she left.

The delicious smell originated from a large collection of street vendors, hemmed into one area by large concrete blocks on a usually busy road. 

“Oh man! I thought the street food festival didn’t start until next week!” Caspar hollered excitedly, practically jumping in the air with excitement. 

All around them were brightly decorated stalls and booths, each one beckoning them closer with an enticing blend of aromas and sights. The scents of all the different foods swirled together in a heavy cloud around them, so strong that Edelgard could almost taste all of the foods on her tongue.

They wandered among all the different vendors as a group at first, suddenly stunned into sticking together, trying to decide what to order first. 

“What do you want to eat?” Edelgard asked, watching Byleth’s eyes flit from one booth to the next.

Byleth looked down at Edelgard, almost shyly, “I don’t know. I’ve never been to one of these before. There’s so much food here, so many things I’ve never seen before.”

Edelgard nodded in understanding. There probably wasn’t very much opportunity for Byleth to attend such events in the past, “There’s only one thing we can do then!”

“What is it?”

“We have to try everything,” Edelgard announced, the rest of the Eagles nodded at Byleth in agreement- even Petra who really didn’t understand what was happening either. Edelgard tugged Byleth towards a nearby line.

“Caspar, you can’t just eat churros for dinner,” Linhardt sighed, but it was too late. Caspar was already off, dragging Linhardt behind him.

“It’s chicken and churros! That’s practically a full meal, Lin! We’ll be right back! Byleth has to try churros.” Caspar called out over his shoulder with a grin.

“I am not understanding this _corn dog_.” Petra stood with Dorothea, watching Ferdinand order and return with three corn dogs. He offered one to Hubert, who took it with much disdain, frowning at the food on a stick, and another one to Byleth. “I am not seeing what relation this has to corn or dogs. It is not having the shape of either?”

“Petra, that’s just what they’re called. It’s a sausage that’s dipped in cornmeal batter and deep fried.” Dorothea laughed, watching Hubert hesitantly bite into the corn dog like it might bite him back.

  
“Have you never had a corn dog before?” Ferdinand was all smiles, offering Petra the corn dog in his hand.

“This one is belonging to you, Ferdinand! I am not wanting to take it from you.” Petra waved her hands at him, trying to turn away the offered food.

“Please, just take the corndog from him and I’ll share mine with him. He’ll never let it go otherwise.” Hubert cut in, looking at both of them exasperatedly. Ferdinand beamed up at him. With his sunburn, Ferdinand just looked like he was perpetually blushing.

Dorothea grabbed the corn dog from Ferdinand before their strange back and forth could go any further. “Here Petra, just try the corn dog.” She thrust it into Petra’s hand, gently folding Petra’s hand closed over the stick. “Oooh! I can see elephant ears over here! And funnel cakes. I think I want both. You have to try both. Byleth has to try both. Let’s get both! Come along, I’ll need the extra hands to carry it all.”

“Elephant ears?” Petra’s horrified expression and question was lost to Dorothea’s excitement as she led the way through the crowd, heading towards a large booth just a little ways away.

“How’s the corn dog?” Edelgard asked, turning to find Byleth inspecting the cross-section of said food after taking a bite.

“It’s tasty.” Byleth stated with a nod, she took another bite before offering the rest of the corn dog to Edelgard.

Edelgard shook her head. “You finish it.”

Byleth shrugged and promptly shoved the rest of the corn dog in her mouth, pulling the stick free with enough flourish to rival a magician. Edelgard laughed at the ridiculousness of the action in spite of herself.

A gentle tap on her shoulder pulled her attention away from Byleth’s antics. Bernadetta, arms loaded down with two large blue lemonades and two equally large soft pretzels appeared. Edelgard didn’t even notice her leave, never mind order these. Hastily, Edelgard took one of each, allowing Bernadetta to chow down on the giant pretzel with alarming gusto. 

“Pretzel, Byleth?” Edelgard offered the still hot snack to her, which Byleth eagerly accepted, tearing into the pretzel with enough gusto to match Bernadetta. 

“Hey, slow down, both of you. There’s lots more food to try.” Edelgard looked at both of them with a mixture of exasperation and fondness. “You want to split an order of green onion cake tacos with me?”

Byleth nodded vigorously, having no idea what that entailed but wanting to try it all the same.

By the time they rejoined the others, Byleth had consumed two green onion cake tacos and an entire bowl of curry fish balls while Edelgard worked through her own taco and the remainder of the giant pretzel from earlier.

“There you three are!” Ferdinand exclaimed as they walked up. 

“Byleth! You have to try some fried chicken and churros!” Caspar offered her a forkful of crispiness, drowning in a sticky syrup. 

“We are also having elephant ears! But there are not any elephants being involved.” Petra added brightly. She had an entire mango on a stick, covered in a bright red chili sauce.

“Petra, honey. You have some sauce-” Dorothea handed Byleth the remainder of the two large pieces of fried dough and fished out a napkin from her pockets. Delicately, she wiped the few drops of chili sauce and mango juice from the corner of Petra’s mouth.

“Oh. You are having my thanks, Dorothea.” Petra’s smile was bright enough to make Dorothea go pink, especially as Petra offered some of the mango to her.

Edelgard gave Dorothea a knowing smirk, feeling particularly vindicated now that the tables had turned. Dorothea could only stick her tongue childishly at Edelgard.

“Is there anything else we want?” Hubert asked. The lower half of his face was obscured by a large crepe, filled with a variety of meats and greens.

“I’m okay.” Linhardt said as the last his giant cloud of cotton candy disappeared into his mouth.

“I think I saw some caramel apples earlier. I would like one of those. They were my favourite when I was a child.” Edelgard hummed to herself thoughtfully. 

A slightly sticky hand on her wrist caught her by surprise. Byleth was already tugging her through the crowd. 

“What are you doing, Byleth?” Edelgard yelled over the noise of the people around them.

“We’re going to get you a caramel apple!” Byleth called back. Leaving the rest of the Black Eagles staring after them in amusement. 

Byleth didn’t let go of her even after they reached the caramel apples, grip shifting down so she could intertwine her fingers with Edelgard. “Which one do you want?” 

Flustered, Edelgard tried to distract herself by looking over the large display of caramel and candy apples. There were so many different kinds to choose from. In the end, she settled on a classic green apple covered in caramel- the perfect combination of sweetness and tartness. The look in Byleth’s eyes as she paid for the treat and handed it to Edelgard made it that much sweeter.

Satisfied with the treat, Edelgard let herself be pulled along by Byleth, like a boat in a river current. For the moment, any earlier troubles were forgotten. She was content.

* * *

Byleth wandered out into the common room late the next day. After such a lively night filled with such delicious and interesting things to eat and drink, Byleth found herself lazing around in her bed, unwilling to leave the comfort of her sheets.

Slowly, the rest of the house began waking up, resuming their usual activities. There were still a few things left to handle before they left Derdriu- cleaning and packing, readying the place for the next time they would be in Derdriu.

Breakfast had long come and gone, it was definitely lunch time. Byleth found Ferdinand picking through the remnants of the food left in the fridge and pantry- there wasn’t much left, which was fine since they would be leaving soon anyway. 

“Ferdinand?”

“Yes, Byleth? Are you hungry? I was about to try to make some kind of uhm… sandwich? From what we have left.” Ferdinand frowned at the strange collection food laid out on the counter before him.

“How are you with spicy food?” Byleth asked quietly, eyes scanning the currently empty common area. Her eyes landed on the glittering, gaudy, over the top door that they had just stolen. Caspar had managed to install it on some kind of a rolling system to replace his own room door. However, given the layout of the hallway, whenever Caspar rolled it open all the way, the door blocked Ferdinand’s room. More than once, Ferdinand had been blocked into his room thus far. 

Ferdinand leaned in curiously, eyes bright, “I love spicy food!”

“Okay, I’ll treat you to lunch. Meet me in your car in ten? I have to go get Petra.”

“Should I tell the others?” Ferdinand asked, hastily putting the various food items back into their respective places.

“No!” That came out more forcefully than Byleth intended. She looked around, nobody else had shown up yet. “They’re not invited.”

“Oooookaaaay.” Ferdinand said slowly, looking at Byleth suspiciously.

“I’m going to have lunch with you and Petra. You and Petra _only_.” Byleth told him seriously. She made a shooing motion with her hands. “Hurry up. I’ll meet you downstairs.”

* * *

Edelgard stayed in her room for most of the day. She had dipped out into the surprisingly empty kitchen for an apple and some tea earlier, catching no sign of the other Eagles. (The apple was woefully disappointing compared to the last apple she had.) There were many preparations to be made before they moved to their next city and by the time she had everything finalized, it was late in the afternoon. 

She was about to begin going through her room and reorganizing it a little bit for the next time that they were in Derdriu when there was a knock at her door.

  
“Edelgard?” 

“You can come in, Byleth. The door is unlocked.” 

The door swung open, revealing Byleth’s gentle smile. She didn’t walk into the room though, awkwardly hiding behind the wall, hovering in the doorway. The sight made Edelgard frown. The last time that Byleth had done something similar, she had nearly broken open her hand. 

“What are you hiding behind your back?” Edelgard asked sharply.

“Come here,” Byleth replied, smile still firmly in place. 

Edelgard studied her expression, she seemed a little bit more pink than usual- something Edelgard attributed to the hot Derdriu weather, but Byleth remained smiling at her serenely. Finally, Edelgard relented meeting Byleth at her doorway. Each step that Edelgard took seemed to make Byleth’s smile grow larger.

“I got you a gift. I know how difficult it is for you to open up to others, to me. I just wanted to thank you for opening up to me, it means a lot to me and I understand if you can’t tell me everything. We all have our secrets- but I will be willing to listen anytime you want to tell me something.” Byleth continued to smile with such excitement that Edelgard was momentarily distracted, forgetting that Byleth had something behind her back, until Byleth pulled out a giant brown bear that was about the size of Edelgard, in silver armour and held it out to her proudly.

“The limited edition Bearos bear!” Edelgard whispered, not quite believing what she was seeing. “Where did you get this?” She reached out for it reverently, like it might disappear at any moment. 

The large cylindrical shape of the bear-body pillow was so large that Edelgard nearly wasn’t able to wrap her arms around its midsection. She had to squeeze the bear just under the silky fabric armour so that her fingers would interlock. Surprisingly, the bear was filled with almost a memory foam-like material, which only added to Edelgard’s delight. She looked up at the smiling face of the bear and Edelgard was suddenly reminded of Byleth’s smile- the quaint, slightly goofy smile.

Bearos was nearly taller than her, the long floppy feet dragging on the ground as Edelgard held it in her arms. She would be lying if she didn’t admit that she had spent a long time searching online for this bear, only to be frustrated at every turn. She considered asking Hubert to work his magic but didn’t want to pull him away from his duties. She had even considered asking Claude, but she knew she would never hear the end of it if she asked him.

Edelgard hadn’t thought about Bearos bears in a long time, not since she was a young child. But upon seeing one the other night, so close, just out of her reach, it was like some kind of spark had been reignited in her, consuming her. She, for whatever reason, wanted this bear.

It wasn’t surprising really. Bearos bears were associated with a happier time in her life- a childhood with her parents and siblings. She got a different bear every year for her birthday, even after her parents separated. Even then, her favourite had been the armoured bear. Her father used to tell her to quell her fear of the dark with the bear, telling her that the armoured bear would protect her from all of the monsters that lurked in the dark.

He could not be more obviously wrong, but the sentiment was still nice. 

Edelgard had all but given up on getting her hands on this bear, and now here Byleth was, handing her the very same bear. It was almost enough to make her cry.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the terrible sounds of someone retching in the common room.

“Ferdinand, why on earth did you think it was a good idea to join them on their insane little endeavour,” Linhardt scolded. Edelgard could hear the displeasure rolling off of him even from her room.

With a sheepish sigh, Byleth led Edelgard into the common area by tugging the floppy arm of the bear that she seemingly refused to let go. They found the Black Eagles gathered there, watching a very red, very sweaty Ferdinand frantically shovel ice cream into his mouth straight from the tub.

Dorothea merely smirked at Edelgard, leaning back in her seat at the counter so that Edelgard could see her around the bear. 

Petra’s eyes lit up at the site of the bear. “You should have been seeing Byleth! I am not having met another person who is able to be eating so much spice!” 

Edelgard turned to Byleth- she had to shuffle awkwardly and rotate her entire body to see around the bear. “You did the fire bowl challenge at the curry place?” Edelgard asked in disbelief.

“Uhm. Yeah, we went back today.” Byleth admitted sheepishly. “Ferdinand told me that he enjoyed spice. So I asked him to come along. It turns out that he was wrong?”

Caspar laughed, “Ferdinand says that he enjoys spice but he really can’t handle it.”

“Well, you looked really sad that you couldn’t get the bear last night so I took Ferdinand and Petra out for lunch.” Byleth shrugged casually as if this was the most logical thing to do. “I really don’t think it was all that spicy.”

“Not spicy?!” Ferdinand wheezed from his tub of ice cream.

“Alright, alright. I’ll keep looking after Ferdinand here. The rest of you should go finish packing up if we still want to leave Derdriu in a timely fashion.” Linhardt groused, resigning himself to a kitchen stool directly across from Ferdinand.

The Black Eagles dispersed, back to whatever they were doing before their day was so heatedly interrupted. 

Edelgard fell into step with Byleth as they returned to their respective rooms, “You didn’t have to do this for me, you know?” Edelgard buried her face in the soft fur of the bear, suddenly very embarrassed.

Byleth smiled, full of serene grace, like she knew some worldly secret and was just waiting for Edelgard to figure it out. “I know. But I wanted to.” She patted the giant bear fondly on its head. Edelgard blushed like Byleth had just patted her on the head. “Besides, I also wanted to thank you for agreeing to take things slow.” Byleth suddenly looked flustered. “I know you like cuddling. And I know that we’ve technically slept together on the rooftop in the nest but I don’t know if I’m ready for a real bed yet. So Bearos here will be my substitute until then.”

Edelgard smiled at Byleth’s sudden shyness. “That’s okay. I understand. We can do whatever is comfortable for you. Just let me know if you need anything okay? Preferably before you injure your hand again.”

Byleth chuckled sheepishly and then turned the bear, whispering conspiratorially in its ear. “Take care of Edelgard okay? You have to comfort her when she has nightmares and I’m not around.” With that, Byleth waved and disappeared into her room, leaving Edelgard staring after her in shock, hearing her father's words echoing in Byleth's voice.

_How had Byleth known?_

Needless to say, Edelgard suddenly found herself with the most luggage on the plane as they took off a few days later- a giant painting wrapped in heavy fabric, a large pot of red carnations, and Bearos, who took up an entire seat to herself. Hubert was very displeased to find that his usual seat beside Edelgard had been taken by this bear and resigned himself to sit next to Bernadetta instead.

Edelgard carefully checked over the pot of red carnations on the table in front of her to make sure that they hadn’t been damaged while they moved from the homebase to the plane. She felt refreshed, not quite at peace, but a lot better than she had in a long time.

“Hey, where are we going?” Byleth asked, leaning across the aisle to also check on the plant.

Edelgard looked at her with a small smile, “Somewhere a little less warm, but still full of interesting art pieces to steal and delicious foods to eat.”

Byleth raised her eyebrows faintly at Edelgard.

“We’re headed to Arianrhod.”

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There we have it! This was ridiculously fun (and fluffy) to write.
> 
> And we move onto my next big arc :D I'm very excited for the next arc in Arianrhod.
> 
> The once every two weeks updating schedule is working out nicely for me. It gives me plenty of time to write the new chapter after work without feeling too tired (and I have enough time on the side to work on lil one shots and other projects hehehe)
> 
> As always, comments and kudos are much appreciated! (I love yelling about these goofball Black Eagles) Thank you for reading! Stay safe! See you in two weeks :)


	13. Ashe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arianrhod brings new contacts, and an interesting new heist.

Arianrhod was everything that Byleth expected and remembered. She never really got a chance to wander through the city proper. Large stone walls and structures built in times past jutted proudly into the sky, disobeying the pulls of time and gravity. 

It was a stark contrast between the colourful heat that Derdriu brought. The stone buildings imparted a sense of distance and coldness even though the blazing heat scorched the concrete and cobblestone, turning the dry air into something like an oven instead of a sauna. 

“Byleth, do you want the same model of motorbike or would you like to pick something else for Arianrhod?” Edelgard asked, scrolling through her phone as they walked down the street together as they casually held hands.

The other Eagles had long dispersed, eager to get settled in again in a new city. This left the two of them free to do as they pleased. The first thing on the list was apparently to get Byleth a new bike. It was apparently tradition now and they couldn’t deviate from that. 

Byleth hummed thoughtfully, “I think I’d like it if we could pick out a new bike together?” 

“Together?” Edelgard echoed, surprise flitted over her face and Byleth had to smile at that.

“Together.” Byleth affirmed, holding up their joined hands. “Afterall, you’ll be riding it with me.”

They spend the entire afternoon picking out the perfect ride.

Sleek, black with red details, and surprisingly silent despite how powerful the engine was. By the time they returned to the Black Eagle’s base of operations in Arianrhod on the new bike, Byleth was all smiles, the feeling of adrenaline in her veins, Edelgard pressed against her back. Byleth could get used to this. She relished in Edelgard’s presence. There was just something about it that made her feel at ease. 

She liked it.

But her good mood quickly dissipated when a frowning Hubert met them in the garage. 

“What is it Hubert?” Edelgard asked as they dismounted from the now parked bike.

“Someone sent one of your old email accounts an email that I thought you might be interested in.” Hubert handed Edelgard his tablet.

Edelgard frowned as she read over the email. Byleth busied herself with putting newly purchased helmets and jackets away in her newly designated garage space.

“Thank you for watching over my old accounts. What do you think of this email? Do you think it’s genuine?” Edelgard asked, still engrossed in the email.

While Byleth’s curiosity was piqued, she wasn’t about to intrude on Edelgard’s privacy. If this was something that she needed to know, she trusted Edelgard to come to her with it.

“I do. I’ve reached out to some of my contacts and confirmed that Mr. Gaspard has passed away recently. His funeral is set for a few days from now.” Hubert informed Edelgard, while still business-like, his tone was still uncharacteristically soft.

Edelgard’s frown only deepened. “Can you arrange to have some flowers sent? No card, no name.”

“Of course. Do you want me to reply to the email as well?” Hubert took the tablet back from Edelgard once she was finished with looking over the email. 

“No, I’ll handle it.” Edelgard massaged the bridge of her nose with one hand and reached backwards toward Byleth with her free hand, grasping at empty air until Byleth took it. 

Something was bothering Edelgard, Byleth surmised.

Byleth watched Hubert nod and disappear back up the stairs before speaking, “Everything alright?” 

Edelgard only sighed tiredly in response. 

“It’s been a long day. Why don’t you go take a shower? I’ll see what there is to eat in the base. Ferdinand should be finished restocking by now.” Byleth gently massaged Edelgard’s tense shoulder. 

Edelgard relented, the tension seemingly seeping out of her like a deflating balloon. Whatever that email entailed, it seemed to be serious. Hopefully nothing they couldn’t handle though.

Edelgard stared at the email open on her laptop blankly. She had been looking at it for the last fifteen minutes, reading and rereading it, trying to come up with an appropriate response. The email had been sent to an extremely old email of hers. So old that she had completely forgotten about this account. Leave it to Hubert to keep track of these things though,

_ <ashe.ubert@gaspard.law> _

_ATTN: Ms. von Hrelsveg_

_Dear Ms. von Hrelsveg,_

_My name is Ashe Ubert, adopted son of the late Lonato Gaspard. I am unsure if you are aware of the tragedies that have befallen the Gaspard family but my father has recently passed away._

_Would you mind meeting me for a cup of tea whenever you are in Arianrhod? There is some business I would like to discuss with you. My father has always spoken highly of you, and I would be honoured to meet someone that he holds in such high esteem._

_  
_ _Thank you,_

_Ashe Ubert_

_Attorney_

_Gaspard Attorney at Law_

Lonato, a name she hadn’t thought about in a very long time. He was a lawyer- a respected one at that too. Edelgard remembered meeting him a long time ago, when she was a child. Lonato was a lawyer that both her father and mother often hired for various things. Unfortunately, the tragic death of Lonato’s son, Christophe, in tandem with the deaths of many other close associates was too much for the once brilliant lawyer to bear and the man disappeared from the professional world entirely.

Her mother was one of those associates. Edelgard remembered seeing the empty shell of the once proud man at her mother’s funeral. Shellshocked was the best word that she could think of to describe him. 

This sudden contact out of the blue from Ashe unsettled Edelgard. She hadn’t been expecting this. She felt unbalanced. Edelgard vaguely recalled that he had adopted another son, sometime before Christophe’s death. She didn’t realize that his adoptive son was also a lawyer or that Lonato’s legal firm was still active.

She needed more information.

Quickly, she messaged Hubert asking that he dig up anything and everything to do with Ashe, Lonato, and the Gaspard law firm. Then she sent Ashe an email.

_ <<edelgard@adrestia.corp>> _

_Hello Mr. Ubert,_

_Emails are not very secure._

_774 Rowe Boulevard. Tomorrow. 1100._

_Edelgard_

  
  


She leaned back in her chair. There was a strange swirl of emotions in her chest.

It had been so long.

So long since she thought about her mother. Her mother who was so kind and warm and stolen from Edelgard when she was still a child. So long since she had thought of her father with thoughts other than sadness and promises of justice. No, not justice. Just revenge. 

“Edelgard?” 

Byleth was peering down at her from above, leaning over the back of Edelgard’s chair to look at her with concern.

“Oh, Byleth. Sorry, I was thinking.”

“I can tell. I have some noodles here. Are you hungry?” Byleth gestured at Edelgard’s desk where a tray with two large bowls of piping hot noodles sat. Edelgard hadn’t even noticed when they got there, or when Byleth came into her room for that matter.

“Noodles sound great.” Edelgard sighed.

The two of them settled on her bed, carefully balancing the bowls of noodles while attacking the food with much gusto. Byleth didn’t say anything as they ate, more than willing to patiently wait for Edelgard to start the conversation. 

Eventually, Edelgard caved to Byleth’s warm and patient gaze, breaking the silence. “Are you doing anything for lunch tomorrow?”

Byleth tilted her head to the side curiously in an adorable expression that reminded Edelgard of a puppy. “No?”

“Would you like to have lunch with me?”

“A date?”

Edelgard frowned. As much as she would like this to be a date, it was technically a business meeting and she didn’t want technically what would be their first date to be derailed by business.

Like that old saying went, you shouldn’t mix business and pleasure.

Edelgard wasn’t sure that having a relationship with Byleth followed that saying exactly. Was this a relationship?

There were too many thoughts. Not all of them were things she could deal with immediately or on her own anyway. She promised Byleth she would take it slow and keep lines of communication open.

That was just what she would do.

“No,” Edelgard couldn’t help the flash of disappointment at herself as she saw Byleth’s expression droop slightly. “It’s a business meeting.”

“Oh? You have work lined up for us so quickly?” Byleth seemed surprised, her eyebrows raising slightly as she slurped up the last of her noodles.

“No. I didn’t line this up.” It didn’t take very long for Byleth to put two and two together.

“The email from earlier.” Byleth stated, nodding to herself as she wipes some soup from the corner of her mouth. 

“Yes. A friend of my parents passed away recently and his adoptive son reached out to me. I’ve asked him to meet up tomorrow over lunch.” Edelgard said slowly, still deciding what to share with Byleth as she said it. 

Byleth made a small affirmative noise and scooted closer across the bed to Edelgard, one hand still gripping her bowl carefully while the other reached out very tentatively toward Edelgard. Edelgard froze, unsure of what Byleth was doing. The teal-haired woman reached up and very gently brushed her fingers along Edelgard’s chin. The sensation made Edelgard’s entire body spark like there was electricity running through her entire body.

After what seemed like an eternity that flashed by all too quickly, Byleth’s hand pulled away with a small bit of carrot on her thumb that was stuck to the side of Edelgard’s chin. 

_Oh._

Wordlessly, Byleth stuck the piece of carrot in her mouth.

Edelgard blushed furiously, the intensity of Byleth’s innocent stare suddenly too much to bear.

“Edelgard?” Byleth asked innocently, completely unaware of the sudden effect that she had. “Is something wrong? Did I do something wrong?”

“No, no, no. You didn’t do anything wrong.” Edelgard knew the blush wasn’t fading from her cheeks any time soon. “It was just unexpected but not unwelcome.”

“Would you like me to do it again?” 

“...alright.” Edelgard found herself saying. She closed her eyes as Byleth’s hand reached toward her again. Why had she agreed to this? Would expecting what was about to happen make things any better? 

The feeling of the rough and calloused pads of Byleth’s hand brushing gently against her chin sent a shiver shooting down her spine. She resisted every urge to lean further into the touch. They were taking it slow. 

“You’re tense.” Edelgard’s eyes flew open, finding Byleth unusually close to her, still staring intently. “I haven’t checked the rooftop situation out. But if you wait for a little bit, I’m sure I can have something set up like what we had in Derdriu.”

“That’s okay, Byleth. I’m just tired. I’ve had a lot to think about with just this last email.” 

Thankfully, Byleth didn’t push. “Alright. But you know I’m always here to listen to you if you need anything, right?”

“Thank you, Byleth. I appreciate it.” Edelgard caught Byleth’s hand as she withdrew and gave it a reassuring squeeze. “I promise I’ll take you out on a proper date after our business meeting tomorrow.”

Byleth’s brilliant smile as she left with their dishes was enough to wash all of her troubles away for the moment.

* * *

“This restaurant is really fancy.” Byleth murmured to Edelgard, feeling very underdressed in her leather pants and fish patterned tank top. She shifted uncomfortably in her chair, she felt like she stuck out like a sore thumb. Edelgard was dressed in one of her many classy outfits- well tailored slacks, a nice top and a sharp cut blazer gave her a much more imposing look than Byleth gave off.

“I figured that we ought to make an impression for this meeting.” Edelgard scanned the one page menu on a faux leather board that had been placed before them. 

Byleth frowned at the menu. There were a lot of salads on the menu. The cursive font on the page also made it difficult to read. 

“Ms. von Hresvelg?” A timid voice spoke up, making both of them look up. _Hresvelg_. That name sounded oddly familiar to Byleth. She just couldn’t quite place where she had heard it before. 

Edelgard narrowed her eyes, sizing up the shy man trying his best to meet her gaze. “Mr. Ubert. Please, sit. And call me Edelgard.”

“Okay, Edelgard. You can call me Ashe,” Ashe took a seat across from Edelgard.

Byleth was not well versed in expensive suits but even she could tell that Ashe’s suit was a very high quality suit. He unbuttoned his jacket as he sat down.

“I was unaware that you would be bringing guests to this meeting.” Ashe’s tone was polite, not accusatory, just enough to express mild surprise.

“Yes.” Edelgard paused for a second, leaving Byleth to just stare at her quizzically. “We work together. Any business you have with me will also deal with her.”

Briefly, Byleth wondered what the strange empty pang in her chest was. She was hungry and the scent of food wafting through the restaurant was very tantalizing. It didn’t feel quite right to call it hunger though.

“Of course then. Should we order something to drink? I’m not too fond of drinking, but I know many people do like to drink over business.” Byleth caught a glimpse of _something_ in Ashe’s gaze. Bitterness maybe?

“No. I don’t like to drink while dealing with business either.” Edelgard replied smoothly. “I like to keep my head clear for business. I’ll have a pot of bergamot tea please.”

“Oh! Me too.” Byleth added hastily, the menu was an unfortunately intimidating thing, and if the last fancy event that Byleth had food at was any indication- following Edelgard’s orders seemed like a safe bet. She leaned in close to Edelgard’s ear, voice barely audible as she pointed to a random blank spot on Edelgard’s menu. “I don’t know what to order. Please order for me.”

Edelgard nodded, giving Ashe a faint smile. They gave their orders to a waiter who seemingly appeared out of nowhere before returning to business.   
  


“So Ashe, business.” Edelgard folded her hands politely in front of her, indicating that Ashe should begin.

“You may have heard that my adoptive father has passed away recently.” Ashe began, his brow furrowed at the mention of his father.

“I have. You have my sincerest condolences. I may have been young when I met him but I know Mr. Gaspard was a brilliant lawyer.” Edelgard’s voice was gentle, apologetic even. 

They paused as the waiter returned with their drinks and a fresh loaf of bread and butter. Once he was gone, they continued. Byleth took the pause in the conversation to help herself to several slices of the piping hot bread.

“Thank you. I hope to uphold his legacy.” Ashe mumbled into his coffee. Two milks, half a packet of brown sugar, Byleth noted. He made a face at the first sip and added the remainder of the sugar and then a second packet. “But the matter at hand. My father has not been well for a very long time. Not since the death of his son, Christophe, and a few of his other close friends.”

Edelgard nodded slowly. “I saw Mr. Gaspard at my mother’s funeral.” 

Byleth looked over at Edelgard in mild surprise, she managed to disguise the look by offering Edelgard a bite of her heavily buttered bread.

“I’m sorry for your loss.” Ashe looked a little bit awkward, almost like he wasn’t sure what to say in this moment.

“It’s okay, Ashe. It’s been a long time. But please, let’s skip to the business.” Edelgard declined Byleth’s offer of fresh bread with a small wave. 

Their food arrived and Byleth abandoned her slice of bread in favour of the interesting platter of seafood placed before her. There was an assortment of different crab legs, some grilled prawns, a lobster tail, and a small pile of lightly grilled vegetables. It looked really good. Byleth gave Edelgard a grin of approval, pleased to find that Edelgard was similarly smiling gently at her over her cup of tea.

“So after these incidents, my father was never himself again. Nothing he said made sense, he barely remembered who he was most of the time. These last few years left him bedridden as well. But he had a moment of clarity right before he passed away. He told me a few different things. One of them being to seek you out and pass along a message.” He fidgeted with the spoon in his coffee for a moment before gathering himself to his full height. 

“Oh?” Edelgard raised an eyebrow faintly at Ashe. “What is the message?”

“That your father often told his wishes to your mother’s favourite piece of art?” Ashe looked just as confused as Byleth felt upon hearing those words. 

It must have made sense to Edelgard though because a look of realization dawned on her face. “ Oh, father. I had thought as much. You hopeless romantic.” She murmured to herself. Byleth didn’t understand what those words meant, but clearly they meant a lot to Edelgard for her to let her professional mask of composure slip in front of Ashe.

“There is one other thing that I would like to ask for your help with.” Ashe fidgeted with the spoon in his coffee again. He looked more nervous than before, if that was even possible. “I heard from a certain _lone wolf_ that you would be able to help me.” He looked embarrassed now.

Lone wolf? _Sylvain?_

“Sylvain.” Edelgard sighed, confirming Byleth’s thoughts. “Why in the name of the goddess are you in contact with that fool? What has he told you this time?”

“As a lawyer, I work with him sometimes. I handle some of the Blue Lions Task Force cases.” Ashe sighed. “He can be a real handful sometimes but he’s good at what he does. I would trust him.” 

Edelgard pursed her lips. “Well, I guess it would depend on what you want us to help you with.”

“I, of course, can not know any details. But I am looking for a very specific piece of art.” From the inside of his jacket, Ashe pulled out a picture and slid it across the table to them, face down. 

Edelgard picked up the picture and turned it over, angling it so that Byleth could also see. There was a small statue of a lion dog, carved out of a piece of white marble. From the way that Edelgard’s eyes widened ever so slightly, the statue meant something aside from being a beautiful piece of art.

“Why this statue?” Edelgard finally tore her eyes away from the picture and handed it to Byleth, who carefully tucked it into her back pocket for safe-keeping.

“In addition to the message that I was to pass along to you, my father told me that recovering this statue was of the utmost importance.” Ashe paused, clearly struggling with his words. “He passed away before he could tell me why it was important. I figure that it was best I recover it first before I try to figure out its importance.”

“Hmm. I can look into it.” Edelgard said after a long moment.

“Of course, I have a few art pieces in my possession that I am willing to offer up to you for trade. I’ll arrange for a time for you to come view them if you want. I just ask that you be very discrete about this all.” 

“We’re very good at being discrete.” Edelgard assured Ashe confidently. “We’re very good, period.”

“That’s good to hear. I’ll do my best to assist you however I can. So if you need any help,” Ashe produced a business card from the inside of his jacket and handed it to Edelgard. “You can contact me here.”

Edelgard tucked the business card away into her purse. “Very well, Ashe. I'll let you know when we have it.”

* * *

“Edie, this is a strangely obscure piece of art.” Dorothea commented, staring at the blown up image of the little lion-dog statue on the big screen of the common room. 

“I agree. What is that supposed to be? A dog? A cat? A cat-dog?” Ferdinand asked, rubbing his chin quizzically. 

“A cat-dog has a cat head and a dog head, no tail.” Caspar answered firmly, with the air of a well respected, extremely confident expert.

“That’s obscene! That doesn’t make any sense.” Ferdinand argued, folding his arms across his chest stubbornly. 

“You’re obscene!” Caspar yelled back.

“Stop it both of you.” Edelgard glared at them. They were derailing the discussion at hand, as usual. “It’s a lion-dog statue. An acquaintance has asked us to retrieve it for him.” Edelgard continued once they both settled down.

“Another charity case?” Dorothea asked, amused. She swirled the wine at the bottom of her glass around with a smirk.

“No. He’s willing to trade us other art pieces in his collection for this one piece.” Edelgard sighed. 

“This dog-lion is having the possibility to be anywhere.” Petra murmured thoughtfully.

“Lion-dog. I know it’ll be harder to track down because it’s a lesser known piece, but we’ve found harder to find things before. Reach out to your contacts, leave no stone unturned. I don’t believe for a second that there exists something that we can not find.” Edelgard paused, thinking. “First one to find it gets to pick our next leisure heist.”

The notion that this was suddenly a competition with some stakes involved sparked some kind of energy in the room. “Old rules still apply,” Edelgard warned them, “No sabotaging each other, and no individual heists. We are after information _only_.” 

Even Hubert and Berndetta looked surprisingly eager for this competition, well as eager as they could get.

The Eagles were all watching Edelgard with anticipation. Well Byleth’s expression was more akin to amusement than anything else, having never participated in one of these little games that they liked to play than before. “Okay, don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.” Edelgard waved her hand at the group, and the entire group dispersed to their own areas, leaving Edelgard and Byleth sitting in the common room, amused.

The Black Eagles were on the hunt.

* * *

  
  


A few days later, the Black Eagles were very casually checking out an art gallery near its closing time, courtesy of a tip obtained by Dorothea. Most other leads had turned up to be dead ends, and Edelgard was strongly considering reaching out to Claude and his almost omniscient network. He would never let her live it down though and the mere thought of that was annoying enough. 

_“I am not seeing it anywhere in the back rooms.”_

_“Petra, there’s a large safe in the basement. Last door on the left from the staircase. I’m looping the cameras right now.”_

Edelgard hummed softly to herself as she examined a large piece of abstract art on the wall that was just several lines of black on a white background. While she didn’t have any personal interest in such pieces, she knew that eclectic collectors would pay a pretty penny for a piece such as this one- not that they were desperate for money at the moment. 

Byleth stood next to her, hand firmly clasped in hers. This still wasn’t an official date by any means, but Edelgard still enjoyed playing up the couple aspect of it as they carefully scoped out the art gallery. Besides, she wanted their first official date to be something special, she had a few ideas in mind but there was still some planning to be done.

_“And we’re in. Mr. Chaddington’s out like a light.”_ Dorothea’s voice was proud, she was somewhere upstairs in the offices of the mostly empty gallery.

_“That was quicker than I thought.”_

_“Some of us are efficient, Ferdie.”_

“We’re coming upstairs. Ferdinand?” Edelgard turned to watch Ferdinand make his way across the gallery to talk to the assistant standing nearby. He casually led her toward the front of the gallery, brushing by Edelgard to hand her the keycard that he surreptitiously swiped from the assistant.

Quickly, Byleth and Edelgard made their way through the door at the back of the gallery, swiping into the staff area and heading up the stairs. Dorothea waited for them in the large open office at the end of the hallway upstairs.

A middle aged man with a meticulously groomed handlebar mustache was laying face down on his keyboard. “He’s a lightweight.” Dorothea sighed. “He picked a poison and couldn’t handle it.”

“You poisoned him?” Byleth asked in surprise, taken aback.

“In a manner of speaking, although I guess it would be more accurate to say that I drugged the bottle of wine he opened up to try to impress me with. He turned his back on me and the wine.” Dorothea shrugged, “It was too simple to add a few drops of a special lil brew Lin made me to the bottle.” Dorothea smiled at them slyly. “Tasteless, odourless, colourless. He’ll wake up with a bad hangover and attribute it to the wine in a few hours. No lasting damage.”

Edelgard ignored their banter in favour of digging through the files in the large cabinet beside the desk. Mr. Chaddington liked to keep all of his records as paper copies instead of electronic copies, something Hubert unfortunately couldn’t hack, which was why they were here now.

“A shame he had to pick such a rare vintage of wine,” Dorothea looked mournfully at the remainder of wine in the glass on the desk before him. “No sense letting it go to waste, now should we?” She picked up the glass, never breaking eye contact with Byleth as she did. In one smooth movement, before Byleth could stop her, drained the entire glass.

“Dorothea!” Byleth’s eyes widened a fraction in shock, looking at Dorothea like she had just lost her mind, willingly drinking a large dose of whatever poison she had added to the wine just because the wine was too good to pass up. Byleth stepped forward, wrapping an arm around Dorothea’s shoulders to steady her should she fall unconscious, about to call for Linhardt when Edelgard sighed and cut her off.

“She’s just being dramatic, Byleth. Don’t worry about her.”

“What?” Byleth looked very confused. 

“Dorothea drinks poison all the time. She’s built up a ridiculous tolerance to most substances.” Edelgard waved a hand at Byleth, gesturing for her to come help her look through the files. “Don’t let her kiss you either. Her lipstick is toxic as well. It’ll probably knock out a grown man.”

Byleth paled, of all of the things she expected Dorothea to be, this was not one of them. Dorothea playfully blew a few kisses at Byleth and winked. “Don’t worry. I won’t kiss and tell.” 

Edelgard sighed again, Dorothea had been extra teasing and playful as of late. More so than her usual self. “Please, let’s continue this discussion at a later time. I just want to find these files.” The three of them picked through the files, pulling and replacing the files as they went.

“Is this it?” Byleth asked, handing Edelgard a suspiciously thick file.

“An estate sale?” Edelgard frowned. It was an old file, a lot of the papers yellowing slightly despite being protected by the file folder. Her eyes widened as she read over the file. The Blaiddyd estate sale. It was signed off by the executor of the estate.

_Cornelia Arnim._

Edelgard froze. That was a name she hadn’t seen in a long time. She had secretly hoped that she would never see this name again- like Kronya, a futile hope. She always knew that this day would come. 

“Edelgard?” Byleth’s voice pulled her out of her thoughts. “Are you okay?”

“Yes, I’m fine.” Edelgard could tell from Byleth’s worried look that Byleth didn’t buy it. She changed the subject, continuing to flip through the thick file. “This is the file we need. The statue in question was sold to Acheron Acheron.”

“Wait, he has the same first name and last name?” Byleth asked incredulously.

“Parents liked the last name so much they named him twice,” Dorothea shrugged. She had seen her fair share of strange names the rich and powerful liked to give their children. 

“Hubert can pull-” Edelgard’s train of thought was cut off by Petra’s hushed voice over their earpieces.

_“Someone is being in the safe.”_

_“I haven’t seen anything on the cameras. Possibly a rival thief. Caspar, Linhardt, can you move to assist?”_

_“We’re on the way, Petra. Sit tight!”_

Edelgard took a picture of a few of the papers bearing names and items from the file with her phone before hurriedly shoving it back into the cabinet. 

Byleth was already moving toward the door. “I’ll go assist Petra,” she called out as she vanished down the stairs.

“That leaves us with running interference.” Dorothea sighed. They swept over the room once more, making sure nothing was too out of place before heading back downstairs to inform the assistant that her boss had drank too much.

* * *

Petra huddled in the shadow of a particularly large statue of a naked lady. She had only been in the safe for a few moments when the safe door creaked open again. A large figure stepped into the safe cautiously. It was hard to make out any details in the dim lighting, but Petra was fairly certain that this person did not work here. 

Hubert had provided them with a list of staff at the beginning of this operation and nobody on that list was above two meters. This person was quite tall. It was also interesting that Hubert hadn’t noticed this person coming into the safe. A rival thief?

Now she had to sit and wait for the other Eagles to show up. She was very good at waiting. Waiting was half the game when it came to thievery and she was an excellent thief. 

This person was not an excellent thief.

They bumbled around in the dim light, making far more noise than Petra ever would. 

_Amateur._

More noises were coming up the hallway. Petra leaned closer to the door, trying to hear what was happening. 

“Hey Bob! Why is the safe door open? Shouldn’t it be closed at this time?” Caspar’s voice, obnoxiously loud and exaggerated could be heard clearly.

“I don’t know, Dan. That’s suspicious. Let me call for backup.” Linhardt’s voice, his usual tired drawl. A radio crackled, “This is security team Alpha-Omicron-3 requesting back up at the safe. We have a possible break in going on.”

Where did they find a radio?

In the amateur thief’s haste, he nearly knocked a vase off of its stand next to Petra, as he rushed back out the safe door. Reflexively, Petra reached out and steadied the vase with a gloved hand. It might not be her fault, but she wouldn’t let this amateur tarnish her field of thievery like this. That would be blasphemous. 

There was some kind of a commotion outside. Caspar halfheartedly chased the other thief down the hall while Linhardt peered into the safe. “Petra?

“I am here.” Petra emerged from her hiding spot with an easy smile.

Linhardt breathed a sigh of relief. “Let’s get out of here. I think we got what we came for.”

* * *

  
  


“This is what I want you to retrieve for me.”

A pale, emotionless face behind a dark skull mask looked down at the black and white picture that was slid across the table. A small statue of some sort of four legged creature. Marble. About a foot and a half tall. 

The dark skull looked up at the woman who had slid the photo across the table, eyes hollow. “You best not fail me again. This is your last chance. I have grown tired of your recent failure.” Her voice was sickly sweet, she tossed her light pink hair over her shoulder flippantly. 

“You know, we wouldn’t have this problem if you didn’t sell off the Blaiddyd art collection, Cornelia. How _long_ have you been tracking down each piece that you sold?” A second voice, grating like sharp nails on a chalkboard. Orange hair stepped out of the shadows and into the flickering fluorescent lights. 

“I could do what I wanted to with the Blaiddyd art collection. I didn’t see you complaining when you got a share of the profits, Kronya.” Cornelia spat venomously at the other woman. “Besides, that’s what we have the Death Knight for.”

Kronya smiled at the Death Knight, or what could be called a semblance of a smile anyway. It really just looked like she was baring her teeth at him. A threat. A reminder of how dangerous she was. Not that he ever forgot.

“Bring me the statue. Don’t return until you have it. And you best make it quick or else we’ll find out what happens when you go too many days without your medicine.” Cornelia smiled at the thought of that. She patted his head condescendingly. “Now off you go. Be a good boy now.”

The Death Knight stared blankly ahead as the two women left. A cough forced its way out of his throat. He lifted the skull away from his face and wiped at his mouth with the back of his hand. Bright red blood stood stark against his very pale skin.

It was time to hunt.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter! A little bit shorter than the previous one but it was a very good spot to cut things for the next chapter.
> 
> We are in the new arc!! I'm very excited for this act, it's gonna BE A LOT OF FUN (for me to write at least). We explore some of the other Black Eagles perspectives, other relationships, it'll be very interesting. 
> 
> (Also someone said it was their birthday today? HAPPY BIRTHDAY PLEASE EAT LOTS OF GOOD FOOD?)
> 
> (Also in the mean time check out the shenanigans (that I am punning in) that are Fodlan_Olympics on twitter. They're also the reason why my oneshots have taken a strange turn into ...whatever they are now.)
> 
> Stay safe! I'll see you in two weeks!! <3


	14. Annette

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Black Eagles begin scouting out their next heist.
> 
> A old friend comes to Linhardt for asking for help. Complications ensue.

“Linhardt?” 

Linhardt looked up slowly, trying to finish the last few words on the page so he wouldn’t lose his spot in the middle of the sentence. He smiled at the sight of an old friend. She looked like she was doing alright, contrary to the almost panicked tone that he had picked up from her series of text messages that he received the other night. 

“Mercedes.” Linhardt carefully slid a bookmark into his book- it was in the shape of a little wrench, courtesy of Caspar of course.

Mercedes was an old colleague turned friend of Linhardt’s, they had met when he did his residency at St. Cichol’s hospital in Fhirdiad. Mercedes was smart, had good instincts, and more than willing to help those in need. Linhardt, while annoyed by most of his colleagues, found her to be pleasantly amenable. 

He also met her girlfriend shortly after that, Annette- a researcher at the nearby Mount Royal University in Fhirdiad. Though he hadn’t been in regular contact with the pair after he finished his residency and eventually left the medical profession all together, he still stayed in touch with the occasional text.

“Thank you for meeting me on such short notice.” Mercedes cautiously sat down on the park bench next to Linhardt. She was on edge. Linhardt could tell by the way that her hands were bunched in her skirt. She tried to look around discreetly, surreptitiously checking on her surroundings. 

That was a new habit. Also she was very obvious about it. After working with the Black Eagles for so long, he was fairly confident that they weren’t being surveilled.

“It was no bother. It sounded urgent and I was in Arianrhod already. Is something wrong? Is Annette alright?” Linhardt frowned. It wasn’t like Mercedes to be stressed or flustered so easily, and when she was either of those things, it usually had to do with Annette.

“Annie is fine!” Mercedes said too quickly. “Well, kind of. That’s actually what I wanted to talk to you about today.” 

So not fine.

“Okay.” 

“Annie’s been acting kind of strange lately.” 

“What do you mean kind of strange?” Linhardt asked, confused. He never liked to get in between their business. “Annette has always had strange habits.” Annette was very passionate about her work, she had always had little quirks and strange behaviours for as long as Linhardt had known her.

“She doesn’t answer her phone, she stays out very late at night, she won’t tell me where she’s going. I know I’m sounding like some kind of overbearing mother but this is very out of character for Annie! She’s even missed work without calling in! You know her nature! She’s not the kind to do things like this, she’s usually very responsible.” 

“She is a full grown adult, Mercedes.” Linhardt sighed, rubbing his temples. But I do see your point.” 

“I’m just worried about her. The other day I was doing laundry and I found a bullet in her pocket.”

“A what?”

“A bullet. Like the kind you load guns with. I did some research and it looks like it's for a handgun. The bullet hasn't been fired yet so I'm thinking it fell out of someone's pocket or bag or something.” Mercedes awkwardly pointed a finger gun at Linhardt, pretending to shoot him by lowering her thumb. 

“Just the bullet? Nothing else?” Linhardt’s mind reeled. There were so many possibilities. Not all of them were good, but not all of them were bad either.

“Nothing else. I did a deep clean of our apartment after I found the casing. I found my future birthday present hidden between the slats of our bed frame. But no gun or any more bullets or anything else.” 

“Maybe she picked it up somewhere?” Where and why was the big question.

“That’s what I was thinking. But she didn’t seem injured at all. Just more tired as of late.” 

“Is her tiredness a result of her late night outings or as a result of something else?” His doctor brain was kicking in now, running through the symptoms and possible causes. Tiredness was unfortunately a very common symptom. This train of thought wasn’t going anywhere. Time to hit the brakes on that one before it got too out of hand. Last thing he wanted to do was to stress Mercedes out even further. 

“I’m fairly certain it’s because of her late night outings. Her appetite is fine and there are no other observable symptoms.” 

“That’s good to hear. But I guess the real question is, why are you telling me about this? Sure, Annette and I are friends, but aren’t there other people you should be telling? You work with the Blue Lions Task Force pretty often don’t you?”

“Well. I think this is something a little bit below the board. And not that I don’t trust the Blue Lion Task Force, but they aren’t the most discrete group. And there’s all the paperwork and red tape that they would have to deal with.” Mercedes shook her head. “I don’t think that’s a valid option.

“Alright. So you want me to just follow Annette around? Don’t you think she’ll recognize me?” Linhardt asked, exasperated.

Mercedes frowned at him, studying him, debating whether she should say the next words or not. “Well, I heard from Sylvain that you had some kind of ‘not exactly legal side hustle’?” Mercedes made the air quotations as she said that last bit.

Linhardt scowled, of course Sylvain had said something. “I don’t know exactly what Sylvain told you but I assure you, it’s not quite what you think.” 

“I’m not judging you for your life choices or new career, Linhardt. I know how unhappy you were when you worked at St. Cichol’s. But you look pretty happy right now. Whatever you’re doing, I think it’s working for you.”

“I am content with what I am doing right now.” Linhardt admitted. It was hard not to be. Everyday was something new, another intricate puzzle to put together. Things were interesting and changed up just enough every so often to hold his interest. And if there was something else that piqued his interest, he had the freedom to pursue those things. It was a win-win situation as far as Linhardt was concerned. And while Linhardt was not a fan of all the effort and sweat that had to be put into the many different heists, he was willing to pull his weight for the group- especially if it meant keeping Caspar (and the others) safe from harm.

“So will you help me with Annie?”

Linhardt sighed. “I’ll see what I can do.”

* * *

  
  


“So we have a potential location for this statue?” Ferdinand asked. They were all in the common room of the Black Eagles base, taking a break. Currently, he had a pair of handcuffs around his wrists and struggling in vain to break out of them. Next to him, Petra was monitoring him with much amusement.

“More importantly, did I win the competition?” Dorothea smirked. She was leaning against the kitchen counter looking every bit like the cat who got the cream.

“We’ll see once we follow up with Acheron.” Edelgard replied decisively. If she confirmed the winner now, she would never hear the end of it if this lead didn’t pan out. _Thieves and their loopholes._

“Acheron Acheron is an art collector. He has a home here in Arianrhod. Very well secured. Not the first time he’s been targeted by art thieves and robbers.” Hubert pulled up the blueprints of the location on the large screen. It looked to be a very large multi level house.

“That’s sealed up pretty good,” Caspar commented, squinting up at the screen. “Are these doors reinforced?” He asked in disbelief.

“They are. He has a top of the line security system to go with it.” Hubert stated. “It’ll take me a little while to figure out a way around it.” He scowled, clearly displeased.

“We’ll scout out the location as best we can physically in the meantime. We don’t want to raise any alarms. Mr. Acheron is quite paranoid.” Edelgard sighed, sipping her tea. She could feel a headache coming on. Then she had a thought. “Hubert? Could you find out what other pieces Mr. Acheron has? If we are going through all this trouble breaking into his home, we might as well take more than just this lion-dog statue.”

Hubert smiled, sinister, liking the idea of clearing the man out. “It would be my pleasure.” 

The Black Eagles split up to scout out their target in little groups after that. Some to scout out the guards, and others to find a way into Acheron's house without raising any alarms.

* * *

Edelgard was in her room looking over a few things before she headed out to join Byleth at the Acheron house when Linhardt knocked on her door. She looked up at him surprised, he was usually in the middle of some research thing or a nap by this time.

“Can I speak to you for a moment?” He asked, peering into her room, cautiously.

This was strange, Edelgard thought to herself. “Yes, of course, Linhardt. Come in. Is something wrong? Has Byleth injured herself, again?” Edelgard narrowed her eyes at their resident medic. It had only been an hour!

“No, no. Not that I’m aware of anyway. I’m here on personal business.” Linhardt stepped into the room and closed the door behind him. 

“Oh?” Edelgard raised her eyebrows at him. This _ was _ strange.

“An old friend reached out to me the other day and she was concerned about a mutual friend that we had. The mutual friend had been behaving very strangely as of late and she asked me to just check up on her to make sure she was okay.” Linhardt stated, face as bored as ever. But there was a spark of very real concern in his eyes. 

“Did you need time away?” Edelgard asked.

“Actually I was hoping to borrow some Eagles. I wanted to tail our mutual friend a little bit but I think she would recognize me from a mile away.” 

“Of course. Scouting Acheron’s house doesn’t take the full team, I’m sure a few of us would be more than happy to do this. If you give Hubert some contact information, I’m sure he can get some extra eyes on your friend and some background as well.”

Linhardt paused, thinking it over. “I don’t want to completely invade her privacy. Could we limit it to just her location for now? See where that nets us?”

“Of course. I’ll let Hubert know. Your friend isn’t involved in anything too dangerous is she?” Edelgard asked as Linhardt turned away to leave.

Linhardt sighed, “I sure hope not.”

* * *

_ “It looks like we can get through the wall here, I just got a new laser that will be perfect for this.” _ Caspar commented.

_ “Can we exit through there as well or do we need a second opening?”  _

_ “You’re just saying that, Ferdie, because you don’t want to go through the sewers.”  _

_ “I have a sensitive nose! Would you want to go through the sewers, Dorothea?” _

_ “I’ve seen and dealt with my fair share of rats, this is not an issue.” _

_ “Please don’t say that, I despise rats. And you two are supposed to be helping Linhardt. You should not be on this channel.” _

“Do you want me to look for a different way into the house then Edelgard? If you are uncomfortable with the sewers?” Byleth asked, examining the blueprints of the house again. The once pristine diagram was now covered in various notes and comments courtesy of all the different scouting missions that the Black Eagles had taken in the last week. 

_ “No, no. This is the best way in. I will not be bothered by some rodents.”  _ Edelgard’s voice was set, determined.

“Are you sure, Edelgard? I can think of something else. It isn’t too late to change the plans.” Maybe they could talk their way into the house? It would be tough to leave with everything though.

_ “I’m very sure.”  _ Edelgard’s tone made it clear that they were done with this topic.

The Acheron house seemed to be a standard brownstone in an older, wealthy neighbourhood. Acheron had installed drastic security measures though. Security cameras swiveled steadily at every corner, entrance, blindspot. It felt like he had more security cameras on the exterior of his house than he had blades of grass on his perfectly groomed lawn.

Not only did he have the security cameras, but he also had on site security guards. Byleth had seen a couple of them standing in the corner, smoking cigarettes in the shade just beyond the gated yard.    
  


It would definitely prove to be a challenge getting in through the front gate and door of the house- which was why they were looking at the sewers.

The sewers underneath Arianrhod were also connected to a series of ancient tunnels that ran below the city. In the past they would have been used for smuggling things or smuggling people.

A few of the tunnels had been collapsed or purposefully sealed up by the city but a few still ran open, alongside the city sewer system.

One of these said tunnels passed by Acheron’s house. It had taken a lot of networking and digging around, literally digging around in Caspar’s case, to locate exactly which tunnel was the one they were looking for. 

The Black Eagles had split off to handle scouting and helping Linhardt at the same time. Once they heard that Linhardt was requesting a personal favour for a friend, it was a no brainer that they all wanted to help out. 

_ “Fine, fine.”  _ Dorothea sighed,  _ “But I want you to know that following Lin’s friend around is really quite boring. She doesn’t do anything.”  _

_ “The whole point is that she usually doesn’t do anything.”  _ Linhardt groused also in the field somewhere, not actively watching Annette but nearby.

_ “All of you, to your proper channels please.” _

_ “You made Hubie mad!” _

* * *

  
  


“I have some interesting information on Linhardt’s friend that he’s asked us to keep an eye on.” Hubert handed Edelgard a file folder.

“Annette Dominic.” Edelgard paused, reading over the file. “Like  _ Dominic _ . As in related to Gustave Dominic?” 

“The one and only. From what I can tell, she hasn’t seen her father in years.” Hubert nodded.

Edelgard’s mind reeled. This was completely unexpected. She had never met Annette before or her father really, but she knew that Gustave had been one of her stepfather’s close friends and colleagues, if she remembered correctly, Gustave had been the head of their security.

She also did remember seeing his face briefly at her mother’s funeral. Only briefly though. He was there for most of the ceremony and then left quickly after paying his respects. He, like Lonato, all but disappeared after that.

“What do you make of this?” Edelgard closed the folder, massaging her temples.

“It seems a little coincidental that all of these people linked to the Blaiddyds are coming up now. I won’t pry into her life as Linhardt requested but I’ll keep track of her comings and goings based on her cell phone activity.” Hubert paused, watching her carefully.

“What, Hubert?”

“Have you spoken to him recently?”

Edelgard glared at the hacker, she knew instantly who he was referring to, her step brother, Dimitri. They ran in separate circles, separate lives, there wasn’t much point to talking. They were still civil, sending cards for birthdays and holidays, but that was about it.

“I’d rather not involve him if I can help it.” Edelgard said finally. 

“Of course. I understand.” Hubert relented. There was a long silence in the air. Hubert spoke up again. “It has come to my attention that you and Byleth are dating now?”

“We aren’t dating officially. We’re taking this slow- why am I talking to you about this? Please leave.”

“If she ever hurts you, I can ruin her-”

“Absolutely not, Hubert!”

* * *

“What in the name of the goddess are you all doing here still?” Edelgard asked, there were a good amount of the Eagles were still sitting around in the common room when she expected almost all of them to be out scouting Acheron’s house or following Annette around.

“We’re staging an intervention, Edie.” Dorothea got up from her seat on the couch and strolled over casually.

“An intervention?” Edelgard asked slowly, she didn’t like the sound of this. The giant smile on Dorothea’s face didn’t help matters anymore either. 

“Yes. You and Byleth need a break. A date night break.” Ferdinand walked up to her, grinning. He was carrying a deep red blazer and draped it around her shoulders. She nearly swatted his fussing hands away but he made gentle  _ tsking _ noises at her as he fastened a simple gold collar chain with a small eagle in the center across the collar of her jacket, holding it in place.

“There we are.” His grin only widened.

“I take it that Annette isn’t going to a charity event tonight then?” Edelgard stared at the Eagles gathered in the common room, hands on her hips. It had seemed awfully sudden when Ferdinand announced that Annette was going to a charity gala and Edelgard needed to dress up a little bit so she could follow Annette around on the floor.

“Nope.” Dorothea popped the ‘puh’ sound loudly. She was enjoying herself. “It’s time for a break.”

“We have things to do, there is no time for a break.” Edelgard stepped back from Ferdinand’s smiling gaze to stare at the other Eagles. Bernadetta, Caspar, Linhardt, Petra, and Byleth were missing, she noted. Even Hubert was in the common area, looking on with some interest.

“And that is exactly why you need a break.” Dorothea told her sternly, wagging her finger in the air at her.

“We had a break in Derdriu.” Edelgard protested. 

“ _ We _ had a break in Derdriu, you and Byleth need your own break, away from us.” Hubert added, he had turned his attention to his phone and was tapping away furiously at it. 

“Who will run the missions? We have Acheron’s house to finish scouting and we still don’t know what’s up with Annette.” Edelgard questioned. There was lots to do.

“You have always wanted us to step up and take the lead. This is the perfect opportunity to do so. A simple scouting mission and a tailing mission. We have done these countless times before. Dorothea has volunteered for tonight.” Ferdinand reminded her. 

“You are all meddling.” Edelgard groused at them as Dorothea touched up her makeup.

“You’re trying to tell me that you put on that pencil skirt not to impress Byleth?” Dorothea looked at her skeptically with a smirk. 

Edelgard blushed, looking off to the side so she didn’t have to stare directly at Dorothea.

“Edieeeee. You don’t have to be embarrassed! Byleth is very attractive, we all understand.” Dorothea winked at her. “Now stop blushing, it won’t do if your face also matches your blazer and skirt. That’s too much.” 

“Do I look okay?” Edelgard mumbled under her breath, staring down at the reddish purple pencil skirt that she was wearing. She had been expecting to sit in a car all night and that was why she had opted for the skirt that she had found hanging in the back of her closet. It would double just fine for a date as well.

“You look beautiful.” 

Edelgard whirled around at the sound of Byleth’s voice coming from behind her.

Byleth was dressed in a white button down shirt with vertical black stripes with the sleeves rolled up. A dark grey jacket was dangling loosely over one shoulder. Black skinny jeans only accented how long her legs were. She too had a little golden eagle collar chain on her shirt. They stared at each other for a moment, speechless. 

Byleth shifted awkwardly. “I feel a little underdressed.”

“Don’t be!” Edelgard almost yelled, stepping forward into Byleth’s space. “I think you look incredible.”

Byleth smiled, shy almost, and Edelgard could feel her heart flutter. With a smile like that, it didn’t matter what Byleth wore, she could be wearing assless chaps and a garbage bag for all Edelgard cared.

Edelgard’s phone pinged. She pulled it out of the small clutch she had been carrying. There was a message from Hubert. An address.

“There’s a reservation for two for you. It’s all been paid for, please go enjoy yourselves on the Black Eagles.” Hubert got up from his arm chair and handed Edelgard a set of car keys. He looked over Edelgard’s head at Byleth. “Do take care of her.” He left the unsaid threat hanging in the air.

“Hubert,” Edelgard warned the hacker who only casually raised his eyebrows at her- someone had been hanging out with Dorothea too much as of late.

“Have a good night!” Dorothea laughed, ushering them down the stairs.

“Please don’t do anything too reckless!” Edelgard called out over her shoulder as Dorothea waved at them.

“Please calm down, Edelgard. It’s basic surveilling. What could possibly go wrong?”

* * *

  
  


“Everything is going wrong!” 

“Please Ferdie, there is no need to be so dramatic.” Dorothea sighed. It turned out tailing Annette was proving to be more difficult that they thought. 

For whatever reason, she had turned off her phone as soon as she left her lab, leaving them without Hubert’s GPS guidance. Arianrhod during rush hour was a nightmare to say the least. Fortunately, Annette wasn’t very good at hiding from them or losing tails so they were able to keep track of her through the various modes of public transit that she took. 

Something did feel off though. Dorothea just wasn’t sure  _ what _ it was. 

It was hard to tell with the giant crowds of people around them.

Originally they had thought that she was heading home after a long day at work, like she usually did. But instead of getting off at her usual stop, she continued past it, deeper into the heart of the city.

Eventually, she got off what must have been the fourth or fifth bus in a row and hailed a rideshare- leaving Ferdinand and Dorothea stranded on the side of the road as no other taxi or vehicle pulled by.    
  


_ “Please calm yourself. I am tracking her rideshare driver’s phone. Caspar is en route to you right now. I have sent him the rideshare GPS feed.” _

“Of course something happens the one night that Edelgard isn’t here, something happens.” Ferdinand was pacing agitatedly up and down the few squares of sidewalk before them. 

“Stop pacing, Ferdie.  _ Or can you not handle a little hiccup without Edie’s guidance? _ ” Dorothea looked at him smugly. “All that talk about being better than Edie but it’s all talk isn’t it, Ferdie? You’ve always been very good at talk.”

Ferdinand stopped in his tracks, staring at Dorothea as his ears reddened. If he was a cartoon, steam would be coming out of his ears right now. “All talk? I’ll show you talk!” He unbuttoned his suit jacket and started walking off angrily down the street. 

“Where are you going, Ferdie?” Dorothea yelled after his retreating form.

“I’m going after that rideshare!”

“On foot?”

“Edelgard would never be able to do it!”

_ “Edelgard would know better.” _

* * *

  
  


The restaurant that their reservations were for seemed to be a popular sushi place. Despite its popularity though, the inside of the restaurant was actually quite quiet, soothing even- there was a gentle trickle of water running down a fountain that spanned the entirety of the wall that separated the hostess stand from the main part of the restaurant.

They were led to a cozy little booth that was up against what seemed to be another fountain- a small river of water that coasted past them just below eye level when they sat down. Edelgard slid into the booth first and without any hesitation, Byleth followed after her, sliding up next to her.

Edelgard looked a little bit surprised at first but softened when Byleth gently took her hand in hers and scooted closer so that their outer thighs were pressed against each other, knees knocking against each other’s gently.

“Why is there a river?” Byleth asked quietly, leaning further into Edelgard’s side. 

“You know those conveyor sushi restaurants?” Edelgard asked as she picked up two little black cups with red insides from the side of the table. “Tea?” She asked, pouring tea from a steaming kettle that had been sitting on the table, waiting for them.

“Conveyor sushi?” Byleth asked slowly, confused. “Yes, please.” She reluctantly let go of Edelgard’s hand so Edelgard could pour the tea.

“So usually they have these conveyor belts. And the sushi chefs just make a bunch of sushi and put them on plates and then put those on the conveyor belts. Then as the sushi comes around to your table on the belt, you just pick up whatever you want.” Edelgard placed the first cup of tea in front of Byleth and poured her own.

“Okay?” Byleth wasn’t sure where Edelgard was going with this.

“So here, instead of a conveyor belt, they use this river. And I believe they load the sushi onto little boats.” Even as Edelgard was talking, Byleth could see a little wooden boat making its way toward them. Her eyes widened in surprise when it sailed cheerily past them, laden with a few sushi rolls.

“We just take whatever we want?” Byleth asked, turning in her seat to watch the boat disappear beyond the edge of their booth. 

“Yes.” 

“That’s so so-fish-ticated.” Byleth turned back to face Edelgard, who was watching her with an expression of fond exasperation on her face.

“You’ve really never heard of these kinds of restaurants?” Edelgard asked, laying a hand over Byleth’s, choosing to not address the pun.

“I never really got the opportunity to go eat anywhere nice in my line of work.” Byleth shrugged, she had long gotten used to the life of hurried meals and freeze dried rations.

“I’ll have to show you all of the things you missed out on then.”

“I’d really like that.”

* * *

  
  


“Caspar are you sure this is the right direction?” 

“I am just following the GPS feed that Hubert sent me!” Caspar grumbled from the driver's seat. His phone was clipped to a stand on his dashboard, showing a blinking red dot on a map.

“This is a strange direction to be headed in, no?” Ferdinand frowned, face pressed up against his window, scrutinizing their surroundings.

“I mean. It’s a different direction than what she usually goes.” Caspar admitted, still focused on weaving through traffic as fast as he could. “Ferdie, you’re fogging up the window with your breath! I can’t see!”

_ “I have news.”  _ Hubert’s voice interrupted their bickering 

“Bad news?” Dorothea asked, frowning.

_ “Someone broke into the art gallery a few hours ago. The owner has been working hard keeping the news from spreading.” _

“The rival thief that Petra saw!” Dorothea gasped. But from what Petra told them, he wasn’t very good, clumsy. The art gallery had many pieces of art that would be worth a pretty penny if sold to the right collector. “What did he steal?”

_ “Documents.”  _

That couldn’t be a coincidence.

“There’s no way you can figure out what documents exactly, now is there?” Ferdinand asked.

_ “Not from where I sit, no.” _

The three of them fell silent for a moment, each puzzling it out in their own heads.

“I think we should assume that the rival thief is after the same thing that we are after at this point.” Ferdinand finally said.

“I think that’s a safe bet for the moment.” Caspar took an exit ramp, turning down a slightly smaller street. There was a dark blur from the left side of the SUV and the and the only thing that prevented them from smashing into the concrete barricades that lined the side of the road was Caspar’s quick reflexes and excellent driving skills. Dorothea was quite certain that had she been behind the wheel, they definitely would have struck the concrete barrier as she would’ve swerved to miss the black sports car that suddenly cut in front of them.

“Hey learn to drive!” Caspar shouted even though all the windows were closed and there was definitely no way that the other driver would be able to hear him. He leaned on the horn a few times for good measure.

The driver tapped on the breaks, forcing Caspar to also slow down for a split second, it was almost like the driver hesitated for a second, and then the car sped off, burning rubber down the street. 

“Wow, people here suck at driving,” Caspar growled as he checked the GPS feed again and resumed driving down the correct road.

He paused as he turned down another street. “Hey, wait a minute… does this place look familiar to you?”

* * *

  
  


“Edelgard?” 

“Yes?” Edelgard looked over at Byleth, mid chew. Byleth smiled, gently brushing a strand of hair that had fallen into Edelgard’s face out of her way. Edelgard blushed but didn’t pull away from her hand. The warmth in Byleth’s hand was magnetic.

“I have a very serious question for you. You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.” 

“Okay.” Edelgard tilted her head to the side, looking at Byleth curiously.

“What made you join this profession?” Byleth watched Edelgard’s eyebrows raise faintly in surprise. She hadn’t been expecting this question. There was a pause as Edelgard thought about it.

For a long moment Byleth thought that Edelgard would opt not to answer her question, her mouth opening and closing a few times as she second guessed herself.

“I guess.” Edelgard began hesitantly, fear and anxiety flickered over her face. 

Byleth reached out for Edelgard's hands, setting her chopsticks to the side so she could cup both of Edelgard’s hands in her own. “You don’t have to tell me if it's uncomfortable.”

“No Byleth, it’s okay. I’m trying to be truthful with you right now.”

“And I understand if you need more time.”

“It’s okay.” Edelgard turned her hands slightly outward so that she could curl her fingers around the outside of Byleth’s cupped hands. “You’ve already been very patient and kind with me.”

“You deserve nothing less.” Byleth told her bluntly.

Edelgard blushed, averting her gaze from Byleth’s. “How do you keep saying stuff like that with a straight face?”

“But it’s not straight. I’m gay, Edelgard. It cannot be straight.” 

“You know what I meant!” Edelgard pulled a hand away from Byleth to slap her lightly on her bicep, despite that, she had a smile on her face.

“Okay, okay. But I’m serious, you don’t have to tell me anything that you aren’t comfortable with.” Byleth frowned at Edelgard. “You don’t have to try to prove anything to me.”

“No, it’s okay.” Edelgard took a deep breath, as if she could steady herself. “I joined this profession because I had no other option.”

“No other option?” Byleth echoed, confused.

“When my father passed away, everything that I had was taken away from me,” Edelgard said slowly, as if each word pained her. “Everything that I had ever worked for, snatched away by legalities and loopholes. It was futile to keep working like that, living like that, the rules and laws didn’t protect me, so I decided to operate outside of those rules. I made my own.”

“Like no killing.” Byleth nodded in understanding, she was beginning to understand a little more into Edelgard’s mind. 

“Like no killing.” Edelgard confirmed with a small smile. It felt nice to get that off of her chest.

“Thank you for telling me this.” Byleth smiled, scooting just the slightest bit closer to Edelgard. “I know it wasn’t easy. I’m proud of you.” 

“Can I have a hug?” The words were out of Edelgard’s mouth before she could even stop herself.

Byleth’s smile only grows wider. “Of course!” She wrapped an arm around Edelgard’s midsection and pulled her close. 

It was a bit awkward in the little booth, both of them having to turn their upper bodies toward each other to face each other properly but they managed.

Edelgard buried her nose in the crook of Byleth’s neck, inhaling deeply. Byleth smelled like clean laundry, sandalwood, bergamot and something else unmistakably Byleth. She sighed as Byleth nuzzled the top of her head fondly with her cheek.

She could get used to this.

* * *

  
  


“Lin? Why is Annette heading toward Acheron’s house?” Dorothea watched Annette carefully from the car. They were parked along the side of the road. It was hard to follow someone when the streets were practically empty. Annette had just gotten out of her rideshare- Caspar’s maniacal driving caught them up pretty quickly.

_ “I don’t know. As far as I know, Annette doesn’t have any connection to Acheron.”  _ Linhardt was a few blocks away, taking his shift scouting the guard’s habits and rotations.

“Maybe she knows someone who lives in this neighbourhood?” Caspar suggested, he was fidgeting with his keys, antsy, no doubt.

“Didn’t Hubert say her phone was off?” Dorothea asked sharply. 

_ “It is. I can confirm that it has not been turned on again.” _

“Who’s phone is she looking at then?” All three of them stared as Annette walked by them, fixated on a phone in her hand.

_ “I have no idea. Give me a moment to see if I can locate the phone’s signal. Can you try to keep pace with her so I can use your signals to find hers?”  _ _   
  
_

Dorothea sighed, sizing up her companions in the car next to her. Caspar would stick out too much, and Annette would probably freak out if a strange man started following her down the street, no matter how well dressed he was, so that ruled Ferdinand out as well. Sometimes you just had to do everything yourself. 

“I’m going Hubie,” Dorothea slid out of the car and started down the sidewalk after Annette. She looked like she belonged in this wealthy neighbourhood. Good thing she had opted for a more functional outfit today- the sound of stiletto heels on the sidewalk would have been a dead giveaway.

Annette seemed to be very fixated on the phone in her hand, only glancing up every few seconds to make sure she wasn’t about to run into something in her path.

“Hubie?” Dorothea whispered, she raised a hand to scratch at a point above her lips to help further muffle the sound.

_ “I got it _ .  _ Well, well, well. What do we have here?” _

_ “What is it, Hubert?”  _ Linhardt sounded worried. 

_ “She’s tracking someone.”  _

_ “Who?” _

_ “I can’t tell. It looks like it’s a burner phone.” _

_ “I didn’t know Annette could do that.” _

_ “I mean, it’s quite simple. Anyone with a computer who knew what they were looking for would be able to do it.”  _

“Hubie, we aren’t all computer geniuses like you, I assure you that I would probably not be able to do something like that.” Dorothea had to stifle her giggle. Of course it was simple to someone like Hubert. Hubert who could hack into the most well protected security systems with a few keystrokes. Could he remotely launch a rocket? Now that would be a heist.

_ “I’ve cracked into her tracking program. It looks like the burner phone she’s tracking is… oh.” _

_ “Hubert.”  _ Ferdinand’s voice was stern.

_ “The burner phone is right over top of Acheron’s house. The geolocation is unfortunately not very accurate on this program so I can’t tell you much more than that. I’m trying to get a more precise location through my programs as we speak.”  _

_ “Is she tracking Acheron?”  _ Dorothea could hear a car start somewhere down the block.

_ “Why would Acheron have a burner phone though? And how would Annette know about it and be able to track it?” _

_ “Rich people are weird, Lin. Maybe they have a burner phone because they think it’s cool?” _

_ “Caspar, you can’t just say rich people are weird as an explanation for everything.” _

“Boys,” Dorothea warned. Annette had just taken the corner up ahead, disappearing out of view behind some fencing. They were right next to Acheron’s house now, this was practically Why did she have to be so short? Dorothea quickened her step so that she wouldn’t lose Annette. “Anyone have an eye on her?”

_ “I’m on the way.”  _ The white SUV that Dorothea had been in earlier, turned the corner ahead of her. 

_ “The burner phone is just next to the back fence of Acheron’s house.”  _

_ “Isn’t that where you are right now, Dorothea?” _

“Hey, let go of her!” Dorothea practically sprinted around the corner at the sound of Caspar’s voice.

Of course the one time that Edie was away, everything went to pieces.

* * *

  
  


Edelgard felt content, leaving the restaurant and all of its delicious foods behind. She walked, fingers interlaced with Byleth’s back to the car. “Where would you like to go now?” Edelgard asked, swinging their hands lightly back and forth between them.

Byleth hummed, thinking. “Do you want to go for a walk? The night is still young.”

“I would like that very much,” Edelgard smiled. There was a light breeze that swept past them, brushing Edelgard’s hair out of her face.

“Let’s go somewhere else?” Byleth tugged her towards their car. “Is there somewhere that you like in Arianrhod?” 

“Hmm, let me think.” Whatever thoughts that Edelgard had were immediately quashed when her phone started ringing. 

Surprised, Edelgard picked up the phone. 

_ “Edie?”  _

“Dorothea?” The other woman sounded out of breath. “Is everything okay?” 

_ “We have a situation.” _

“A situation?” Edelgard echoed. She gestured for Byleth to get into the car. She had a feeling that they shouldn’t have this conversation in public. Once in the car, she turned on the speaker phone so that Byleth would be included. “You’re on speaker, Dorothea. Byleth is here.”

_ “Okay. Hubie is sending you the coordinates of one of our safehouses. It’s been a busy night.”  _

“Are you alright Dorothea?” Byleth asked, concerned. 

_ “I’m alright. Nobody is hurt too badly, just some minor scrapes and bruises. There’s just been a complication. I had to knock out Annette.”  _

“Hold on, you were just supposed to tail her. How did it come down to this?” A notification popped up on Edelgard’s phone, an address from Hubert. She reversed the car out of the parking spot and started heading in that direction. 

_ “Yeah. There was a complication. We lost sight of Annette for a brief moment and by the time we caught up with her again, she was fighting someone.” _

_ “And she was too close to Acheron’s house, so we knocked both her and her assailant out before Acheron’s security could notice anything had happened. Linhardt is with them now.” _

_ “We’ll fill you in when you’re here. Linhardt should have them awake again by the time you get here.” _

* * *

  
  


Dorothea sat on the white leather couch in the middle of their safehouse. It was an anonymous secondary location that the Black Eagles liked to maintain. Each city that they had a home base in also had several of such locations, scattered in different areas. They were used for times like this.

She rubbed the silver rose that adorned her right index finger absentmindedly. Things had gone completely sideways tonight in ways that Dorothea hadn’t expected. She wondered how Edelgard did this all the time. Edelgard made making these decisions and staying on top of everything look so effortless. 

It had been a long time since she had to use her ring. Dorothea closed her eyes as she leaned back heavily against the back of the sofa. The whole scene played out in front of her eyes again. Her mind was working in overdrive with all of the different questions that she had, all of the different what ifs, the different possibilities. 

She had rounded the corner after Annette and the Eagle’s SUV to find Annette grappling with a much larger figure who had an arm locked around her neck. The larger figure was in a dark jacket, with the hood up, obscuring much of his face. Annette was struggling futilely against the larger figure’s grasp. Caspar and Ferdinand were doing their best to pry the larger figure away from her while not making a huge commotion that would draw the attention of nosy neighbours or worse, Acheron’s security guards.

The larger figure was clearly more than a match for the two of them, batting Ferdinand away like a rag doll while Caspar jumped on the assailants back. 

In that moment, Dorothea froze, torn on what was the best mode of action.

“A little help please!” Caspar grunted as the assailant slammed Caspar against the stone fence surrounding Acheron’s property with his back. 

Ferdinand was picking himself up off the ground, his clothes dirty and scuffed. Dorothea could see he had scraped his knees on the ground.

Caspar’s voice snapped Dorothea into motion, she strode forward like a panther stalking its prey, The assailant was trapped, between Annette in his arms and Caspar dangling off his back like an awkward green backpack, there was nowhere for him to flee to easily, leaving him to bear the brunt of Dorothea’s silent and cold fury. She hadn’t brought any of her other hidden weapons with her tonight, only her ring- it would have to do.

Her thumb pressed down on the hidden button on the side of the ring and a long pointed thorn slid out of its hiding place inside the rose, it gleamed wickedly in the streetlights. With a cold smile, Dorothea marched up to the assailant and drove the needle into the exposed side of his neck, the poison stored in the hollow inside of the rose rapidly emptying into his bloodstream. 

Immediately the man slumped as the poison coursed through him. Annette stared up at Dorothea, eyes wide, frightened by everything that had just occurred but still trying valiantly to put on a brave face.

“Who are you? What did you just do?” Annette squeaked.

Caspar stared at Dorothea from behind the assailant, slowly sliding down the stone fence as the force pinning him up against it disappeared. 

“We have to get out of here,” He shoved the assailant aside before grabbing him just under the armpits and dragging him to the SUV. Ferdinand hurried to help him move the unconscious man. “Why the hell is he wearing platform shoes, yeesh.”   


“Hey where are you taking him? Who are you people? I’m going to call the police!” Annette’s hands were shaking as she fumbled for the phone that she had dropped earlier in the struggle. 

Dorothea looked over at Caspar and Ferdinand who both made little gestures with their heads that indicated she should deal with the nearly hysterical Annette. 

So Dorothea grabbed her by the collar and kissed her. 

The poison on her lipstick acted quickly despite Annette’s muffled shrieks of surprise and protest. 

“Excellent idea.” Ferdinand is smiling down at her as Annette slumped forward in her arms. “Much more effective than my other idea, which was to have Caspar knock her out with the tire iron from the trunk.”

_ “That’s a terrible idea Ferdinand.”  _ Linhardt didn’t sound happy on the other end of the coms.

“It’s been a long night for all of us, Lin. We’re going to take Annette and her attacker to a safe house and sort things out somewhere safe. Meet us there?” Dorothea helped Ferdinand move Annette into the backseat where she could see that Caspar had handcuffed their assailant to the tiny seats that popped up in the trunk of the SUV.

_ “I’ll wake up Bernadetta and Petra. Do you want to call Edelgard and let her know that we’ll need her back?” _

“Yeah.” It had been like three hours already, that was probably enough time for Edelgard and Byleth to enjoy themselves.

Looking back on all of that, it felt like every decision that Dorothea had made was ill-timed or could have been better. If she hadn’t frozen, then maybe Ferdie or Caspar wouldn’t have gotten hurt.

Caspar lay on the couch across from her, a heating pad on his lower back while Bernadetta carefully cleaned scrapes on Ferdinand’s knees with an alcohol swab.

A hand on her shoulder startled her out of her thoughts. It was Petra, peering at her with such concern in her eyes that it made Dorothea’s heart clench painfully in her chest. Petra offered her a bottle of water which Dorothea accepted gratefully, eager to have something else to focus on even if it was just a simple drink.

“Are you doing okay?” Petra didn’t sit down but opted to lean over the back of the couch to look at Dorothea.

“Just tired.” Dorothea replied with a smile. The smile slid on easily, practiced. Sometimes Dorothea wished that it wouldn’t. When it was so easy to fake a smile, it was sometimes difficult for Dorothea to tell if she was genuinely smiling or if it was still just pretend. It was just like why she kissed Annette so that her lipstick could work her magic, when was she kissing someone and when was she  _ kissing _ someone?

But how was she supposed to say that it felt like everything that had gone wrong tonight felt like it was her fault? She was the one who had suggested to the others that they ought to give Edelgard a break and set her and Byleth up for a little date. She had offered to take charge while Edelgard and Byleth were away.

There was so much that she felt responsible for but there were no words that escaped her. A thin layer of doubt suddenly shrouded over everything that she had ever done, she was.

For someone who talked for a living, Dorothea suddenly had no words.

Petra studied for a long moment, her eyes scanning intelligently. For that moment, Dorothea felt like she was a safe that Petra had to crack, like Petra was studying her weaknesses and flaws, figuring out how to get her to open up. Finally though, Petra nodded and turned her attention to Ferdinand, who was busy dusting off his clothes now that his scrapes had been tended to. 

Moments later, Edelgard and Byleth walked into the safe house. Though her eyes held concern, Dorothea could tell Edelgard was happy- there was a lightness in the way that she held herself. 

The date had gone well.

“Are you all unharmed?” Byleth immediately hurried over to Caspar who was still lying prone on the couch. Like a curious child with a hot stove, she reached out gently with a finger and prodded the heating pad on his back. 

“Ow! Hey!” Caspar turned his head to look up at Byleth. “Rude!”

“Sorry. I’ve never had one of those.” Byleth smiled apologetically at Caspar. “I have some ointment back at the base that is really good for bruises. I can give you some if you like.”

“I appreciate the gesture, but I think Linhardt would be a little upset if I started getting my medical care from other sources.” Caspar grinned goodnaturedly at her. The way he said it, the fondness in his tone warmed Dorothea’s heart but there was a slight twinge to it. She had always been very fond of Linhardt and Caspar’s relationship, she was proud of them, how well they meshed together and took care of each other.

The Black Eagles would always take care of their own. 

But sometimes, Dorothea yearned for something more now that she had the Eagles. A war waged somewhere in her throat, a battleground between her heart and mind. But this wasn’t the time for such things. 

“Someone attacked Annette in the street. Hubert was able to confirm that the burner phone that she was tracking was the assailant’s. Linhardt is with them both right now.” Dorothea took a sip of her water, trying her best to quash whatever emotions were stirring up in her chest.

Edelgard nodded slowly, taking in the information. “And this was near Acheron’s house?”

“Yeah. Hubert said something about someone breaking into the art gallery a few hours ago. They stole some documents.” Dorothea continued.

“The rival thief.” Byleth mused out loud. 

“We figured as much. We just don’t know where Annette and her mystery assailant fit in with all this. It seemed too coincidental that they were also at Acheron’s house to ignore so we brought them here to at least contain the issue.” 

Edelgard smiled lightly at Dorothea. “Excellent work, Dorothea.”

“You don’t have to flatter me, Edie.” Dorothea frowned at the other woman.

“I’m not. I’m telling you that you did an excellent job thinking on your feet.” 

Dorothea shook her head, she wasn’t sure that she could believe such a thing. “You should go check on Lin and Hubie. They’re in the bedrooms.”

“Of course. Do you want to stick around? I don’t mind if you all head back and get some rest. We can take it from here if you need the rest.” Edelgard began to make her way over to the door, hand reaching out for Byleth as she passed by her. Byleth took it and let her lead them further into the apartment. 

Dorothea watched on silently, unaware of the dissecting gaze of a thief.

* * *

  
  


Hubert met them at the bedroom door. He looked absolutely exhausted, a tablet in one hand and he held a gun out by the butt of it with two fingers like someone would a piece of disgusting garbage. 

“Please get rid of that.” Edelgard told him immediately before he could say anything else.

Hubert nodded in agreement and gestured to the door behind them, “It’s her father.”

“I’m sorry?” Edelgard asked, confused.

“Annette’s assailant. It’s Gustave Dominic. The man that practically disappeared off the face of the earth after well, you know.” Hubert paused awkwardly, as if suddenly realizing that Byleth was present and now not sure how much he could say.

“Annette has been tracking her father?” Byleth wasn’t sure that she had all the pieces of the puzzle right now, and what pieces that she had wasn’t making a whole lot of sense.

“Yes. He disappeared shortly after my mother’s funeral.” Edelgard squeezed Byleth’s hand gently- her palm was suddenly a lot warmer than Byleth remembered.

“Okay. But that doesn’t explain why they were at Acheron’s house? That seems too coincidental.” Byleth frowned, too many coincidences, too many things weren’t lining up.

The door next to Hubert opened up suddenly. “You guys should hear this.” Lin poked his head out of the door. He looked tired as well. “They’re both awake.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This heist has quickly gotten out of hand- both in the story and as I write it. But it's still been a fun time (one of these characters has been giving me grief hmph but we'll burn that bridge when we get there). I've had to add an extra chapter in between to give it the space it needs to breathe (oops).
> 
> But things are heating up!! Things are going sideways as more things are revealed. Can't wait for y'all to see the rest of this heist/ arc it's gonna be an intense one. 
> 
> In other news, if you haven't checked out the Fodlan_Olympics project (on twitter) that I'm a part of you should check that out. (I am also on twitter @bardigrade if u want to come yell about things). I'm in the midst of a fun lil collab called Between the Heavens and Earth (Avatar AU wooooot) and there's more little projects coming down the line as well so keep an eye out for those :D
> 
> As always, kudos and comments are greatly appreciated (talking to y'all in the comments is really fun). Thank you for reading!
> 
> Stay safe and see you in two weeks :D


	15. Mercedes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This heist is getting out of hand as more complications ensue. Edelgard learns some truths about the past and this heist.
> 
> Also Gilbert needs to get his life together >:(
> 
> Tw: very minor mentions of blood

Gustave Dominic was not the man that Edelgard remembered at her mother’s funeral. He looked a lot older for one, and not just in the physical sense. But it seemed like he had gone through hell and back. He sat on one of the single beds in the room, staring at the floor, hunched over himself, unwilling to look up. A bulky jacket and dark wig lay in a discarded pile on the floor. 

His daughter sat in the bed across from him, knees hugged up to her chest, eyes wide. Annette was clearly out of her element here but she was doing very well putting up a strong front. Seeing a familiar face in Linhardt probably helped as well.

At the sound of Edelgard entering the room, he looked up at last, eyes flickering with a sense of recognition. “You’re Edelgard.” He greeted her with a rumble.

“I am.” Edelgard acquiesced. “And you are Gustave. You worked with my mother and stepfather a long time ago.”

“Please. I have not heard that name in a long time. I no longer go by it. It is not safe to go by that name.”

Annette from the bed across the room whimpered, and Linhardt hastily moved to her side with a glass of water. He spoke to her in soft hushed tones that Edelgard could not quite make out.

“What do you go by then?” Edelgard gritted her teeth and forged on. It angered and frustrated her to no end that Gustave was going to pretend that his daughter wasn’t even present. Here he was with a gift that she would never share in again and he was going to throw it away like this.

“Gilbert.”

“Well then,  _ Gilbert. _ You’re going to start explaining yourself. Starting with why you were in that neighbourhood tonight.”   
  


Gilbert stared at Edelgard, his face was tense with a mixture of emotions. “I can’t tell you this information.”

“You attacked your daughter in the middle of the street. I don’t think you get a choice in this anymore.” At the mention of Annette, Gilbert’s eyes seemed to focus on her presence across the room, as if he was seeing her now for the first time.

There was a long pause. 

“Gilbert?” Edelgard spoke up, beginning to worry that Dorothea’s poisonous lipstick was still affecting him in some way. 

“You have to get her out of here.” He spoke, his eyes never leaving Annette’s. “She cannot be seen with me.”

“I’m sorry. You aren’t exactly in a position to negotiate with me here.” Edelgard moved so that she was standing between Gilbert and Annette, blocking the other woman from his view. Even though Edelgard barely towered over him as he sat on the bed, she still cut an imposing presence in the middle. 

“I’ll tell you everything that you want to know. But I’m begging you please. You have to get her out of here.” Gilbert’s face was tense, his jaw clenched tightly. 

“You haven’t seen your daughter in how many years now? And you aren’t going to say a word to her? You’re just going to ask us to get her out of here?” Edelgard took a few steps forwards towards Gilbert, anger flaring around her like a second presence in the room.

“There are many things that you don’t understand. This is for her safety. She cannot be seen associated with me.”

Edelgard turned her head slightly to look over her shoulder at Annette and Linhardt. Annette’s eyes were blown wide, still staring helpless past Edelgard at Gilbert. Linhardt’s face was all hard lines and tense glares. He did not look pleased. 

“Lin, could you just take Annette to the other bedroom right now? Let us sort things out with Gilbert first, then we’ll come fill you in and address this properly after.” Edelgard’s tone was gentle even though she was giving out instructions, leaving room for Linhardt to speak up. This was his friend after all, it was only right that he should get a say in these matters.

But Linhardt didn’t argue, only helping Annette to her feet. His mouth moved quickly next to Annette’s ear, speaking such low tones still that it was nearly impossible to hear anything that he said over the drone of the air conditioner.

He didn’t spare them a second glance, still intensely focused on Annette as he left the room, an arm wrapped comfortingly around her shoulders.

The door slammed behind them.

Edelgard immediately whirled upon Gilbert, “You best start talking.” 

Hubert moved to stand in front of the door, arms folded across his chest, scowling- he clearly had no fondness for Gilbert. Byleth bounced onto the recently vacated bed. She didn’t have the same knowledge that Edelgard or Hubert had into Gilbert but she picked up enough on the mood in the room to fix Gilbert with a terrifying dead eyed stare. Her expression was so empty that it made Edelgard almost flinch away at the sight of it.

“I used to work for the Blaiddyd’s. I was their head of security.” Gilbert began, he rubbed his temples tiredly, eyes fixed pointedly at the ground. “Alexander and Patricia’s death was a tragedy, classified as an accident.”

“You’re saying that like you don’t think it was that simple.” Edelgard said slowly, as she turned her attention from Byleth back to Gilbert, narrowing her eyes at him. It still felt odd to hear other people refer to her mother by her first name even after all these years.

Gilbert shook his head, “It wasn’t. It was homicide.”

Edelgard carefully schooled her expression to mask her shock. “And you have proof?”

“I do. I’ve been building this case for years in secret. Originally, when Alexander was still alive, I was tasked with finding the mole in Blaiddyd Steel. I was unable to fulfill that duty and prevent the tragedy of that day. All I can do now is to restore Blaiddyd Steel to its rightful owner.” 

“Wait, the Blaiddyd development company? They had a mole?” This was news to Edelgard. But then again, she had deliberately decided not to look too deeply into anything related to the Blaiddyd’s. 

“ _ Former _ Blaiddyd development company. It’s Blaiddyd in name only now. We always suspected there was a mole, we never had any proof though. I was in the midst of a secret investigation when the accident happened. And then upon Alexander and Patricia’s demise, the company was handed over to a third party based on a combination of previous wills and agreements that were signed. Cornelia Arnim now runs Blaiddyd Steel.” Gilbert looked pained to say these words.

Edelgard nodded, she knew that the company had been turned over to someone else to run. It had always surprised her that the company didn’t go to Dimitri, the Blaiddyd heir, but the legalities of such things were not exactly known to Edelgard. 

“But that was not supposed to be the case. There had been a secret new will that had been signed before their deaths, willing everything back to Dimitri, to be handled by a trustee until he was of age. Very few people knew of its existence, Alexander was paranoid that if word got out, the mole would try to oust him as head of the company. Not that it matters now, because everybody present when that will was signed is now dead.”

“Dead?” Edelgard echoed, astonished. “Someone killed my mother over a will?”

“It was more than a will. It was the entirety of the Blaiddyd estate and corporation, and without this new will, the entire Blaiddyd legacy was under new management virtually overnight. Dimitri was left with very little afterward.” 

“And where do you come in?” Edelgard frowned, while these pieces were slotting nicely into place in the gaps in her knowledge, she didn’t quite trust Gilbert yet. 

“I have dedicated my life to recovering this will and restoring the Blaiddyd estate and corporation to its rightful heir. I may have failed in my duty as their head of security” Gilbert’s face was a mask of utter seriousness, his hands folded neatly in front of him as he stared at the floor. “Before Patricia’s death, she hid the will inside of a statue.”

All the pieces clicked inside of her brain.

“The lion-dog statue.” Edelgard breathed. It felt like a bucket of ice cold water had been dumped over her. 

Gilbert looked up at her in surprise. “How do you know that?”

“Do you know Lonato Gaspard?” Edelgard ignored Gilbert’s question. 

“He was the lawyer overseeing the new will. Why do you ask that?”

“Can you tell me what happened to him?”

Gilbert let out a long breath, his eyes taking a faraway and distant look to them. “His son, Christophe and Rodrigue Fraudalius’ son, Glenn, were the two witnesses present for the signing of the will. Christophe and Glenn were killed in the same car accident that killed Alexander and Patricia. Lonato had been running late and didn’t get into the car with them. If he hadn’t had that incapacitating breakdown after this tragedy, I have no doubts that he would have also been murdered soon after.”

“Is someone after you? Is that why Annette can not be seen with you? Is that why you have a  _ gun _ ?” Edelgard pursed her lips, this definitely added an additional complication in their plans.

“I have been very careful, taking every precaution- disguises,” Gilbert pointed at his platform shoes which looked almost comical on his feet right now, the jacket and the wig on the floor, “-burner phones. The gun was for self defence, I have yet to fire it but it was a precaution I had to take. I had to cut off all contact with my family so that they could not be used to get to me.”

“You didn’t tell your family anything?” Edelgard pressed, she wasn’t buying this whole thing.

“I could not risk endangering them.” Gilbert shifted uncomfortably under the weight of Edelgard’s attention. 

“So instead, you let them wonder all this time where you were all this time and then you attack your daughter in the street?” Edelgard hissed. Fury simmered under her skin. Gilbert’s explanations were paper thin and only kindled her fiery rage. 

“This was the lesser of two evils. I could not risk Annette making a fuss in the street like that. I had to do something.”

“The lesser of two evils?” Edelgard scoffed, “You must be joking. I assure you that you are very much the greater evil here.”

“It was my job to protect the Blaiddyd’s, this includes their legacy. I have already failed in protecting Alexander and Patricia’s lives. I cannot just sit by idly and watch their legacy be destroyed.” Gilbert’s voice rose in volume and he drew himself to his full height so that he was nearly the same height as Edelgard even though he was still sitting down.

“This was never about them. This was about you and the guilt you feel for their deaths. You are endlessly pursuing this secret will in hopes to absolve yourself of your guilt but instead you’ve just made a big mess here, and not only here! You’ve made a big mess of your family!” Edelgard’s voice dropped to an angry growl, stepping forward until she was in Gilbert’s face, absolutely furious. Her rage was a full on inferno now. “You have a daughter, a family. You’re off chasing some misplaced sense of duty and abandoning them to fend for themselves.” A wave of anger washed over her, threatening to sweep her away with its overwhelming force.

A hand on her shoulder pulled Edelgard to safety. She turned to find Byleth watching her, eyes full of concern, her earlier facade completely gone. Edelgard reached up and patted Byleth’s hand reassuringly. She took a deep breath. She would be okay. 

Gilbert fell silent, staring down at the floor again. “What can I do? I’ve already come this far. I can’t not see this through. And are you going to answer any of my questions?”

“No.” Edelgard reached into her purse and pulled out Ashe’s business card, without a second glance at Gilbert, she punched the number into her phone. 

_ “Ashe Ubert speaking.” _

“Hello. I have someone very interesting you will want to talk to.” Edelgard walked over to Hubert and handed him Ashe’s business card. 

_ “Edelgard?” _

“You’re going to receive an address, someone will be waiting for you there. I suggest you move him somewhere safe, have a long conversation with him, and keep a close eye on him. He is relevant to the item that you have requested.” Hubert nodded and began typing away furiously at his phone. 

There was a long pause on the other end.  _ “I can arrange for that. I’ll be over shortly.” _

“Thank you.” 

_ “Of course.” _

Edelgard hung up. She let out a long sigh, this was becoming more complicated by the minute. When she turned back to Gilbert though, her face was recomposed to her usual business face. 

“You will leave the lion-dog statue to us. You will have a proper conversation with Annette and sort this all out once we have secured the statue. Otherwise, the next conversation we have will be much less pleasant.” Edelgard shot him a glare that left no room for argument as she turned on her heel and left, taking Byleth’s hand as she went. 

“I’ll wait here for Gilbert to be retrieved.” Hubert volunteered. He was still tapping away at his phone as they left the room. “You two head on back with the others. Lin is arranging something for Annette to be taken care of. ”

“Hubert,” Edelgard replied, her tone was warning. The hacker had been awake for as long as they all had, if not longer given his terrible sleep habits. He looked as tired as all of them did.

“I have things to take care of here anyway. We’re going to have to get rid of this safehouse now that it’s been compromised. I’m going to collect a few things here.” Hubert shrugged, he was already looking around the safehouse, mentally cataloguing the things he would need to do.

“Alright,” Edelgard relented. 

Hubert walked off to the kitchen, producing a small kit of tools from inside his long jacket. How he managed to wear a jacket in this weather was a mystery to Edelgard still. 

“You okay Edelgard?” Byleth’s voice was soft, washing over her and soothing whatever angry frayed nerves that still sparked with emotion. 

“I’ll be much better once we get this statue and this heist over with.” Edelgard turned to Byleth, squeezing her hand in what she hoped was a reassuring manner. 

Byleth frowned, she didn’t buy that. 

Their date wasn’t technically over yet.

* * *

  
  


“Byleth? You wanted to see me?” 

Byleth looked up from what she was doing to see Edelgard poke her head cautiously into Byleth’s room. The usually tidy space was unusually messy, Byleth was in the middle of a big renovation, she hadn’t expected Edelgard for another ten or twenty minutes. 

Minor change of plans then. Byleth spread her arms wide, a smile on her face as she welcomed Edelgard into them. Confused, Edelgard complied, stepping forward into Byleth’s embrace. Byleth could feel Edelgard relax against her, the tension escaping from her like air from a balloon. 

“I always want to see you.” Byleth murmured against Edelgard’s hair. She couldn’t see it from her position but she knew that Edelgard’s face would be a bright red right now. The tips of her ears certainly were. 

“Byleth!” Edelgard squeaked.

Byleth’s smile only grew wider, this Edelgard was completely different from the angry inferno that she saw in the safehouse earlier. This Edelgard was soft, this Edelgard was gentle, this Edelgard kept the carnations that Byleth grew for her in a pot on her windowsill, this Edelgard slept with the ridiculously large Bearos bear every night in her bed. 

This was the Edelgard that Byleth knew and held in her arms right now. 

“Will you come help me finish setting up?” Byleth asked, she nuzzled the top of Edelgard’s head fondly. 

Edelgard reluctantly pulled away from Byleth’s embrace, “What do you need help with?” She eyed the piles of things scattered around the room.

“Help me move the bed up against the window?” Between the two of them, it took very little effort to move the large piece of furniture into the corner so that it was pressed against the wide window seat next to a large set of windows.

Edelgard peered out the tall panes of glass which were beginning to be speckled with the beginnings of a major storm. “It’s going to be a big one.” 

“It’s going to be beautiful.” Byleth replied, busy with gathering the big piles of blankets up off the floor and arranging them on her bed and the window seat so that it made a nice tall, fluffy pile. It had taken her a while, going door to door, begging, borrowing and stealing any extra blankets, pillows, cushions (and even a spare mattress courtesy of Caspar- who declared cheerfully that he liked Linhardt’s better anyway). 

Edelgard finally turned away from the window to take in what Byleth was up to while she had been distracted. “When did your bed get so tall?”

Byleth only smiled at her and gestured for her to get on the bed as she went and turned off the overhead lights. The warm glow from the string of lights that were hung along the top of the bed frame was immediately apparent without the bright light in the room to drown it out. “I have ways,” Byleth told her as she pulled out a tote bag packed full of different snacks that she had stashed away for occasions like these. She also had a thermos of hot cocoa waiting on her desk that she had prepared earlier.

“Come on, the storm is starting.” Byleth tossed the bag of snacks onto the bed and clambered up after Edelgard, trying her best to stifle a smile as Edelgard struggled briefly to get up on the much taller bed.

“Don’t you think this will be too warm? It is summer after all,” Edelgard moved aside some of the blankets to make a cozy spot for herself.

“I think it’ll be okay. My room gets quite cool at night. And also I turned the air conditioning all the way up.” Byleth commented casually as she climbed over Edelgard so that she was on the inside, pressed up against the window. She had thought of everything to make this the perfect, cozy little spot.

Snacks were opened and passed between them, Ferdinand had recommended a great deal of interesting things that Byleth had never tried before. There was a strange little packet of sweets that tasted kind of like soap? Faerghus Delights, the label read. Well it wasn’t really all the delightful, but definitely very Faerghus. 

There was also a small blue tin that Bernadetta had given her. Byleth had watched her pull identical tin after tin from a shelf in her room. Each one that Bernadetta had opened seemed to contain more and more sewing supplies until she found one that contained a series of cookies sitting in little white parchment cups.

These Faerghus Butter Cookies were much more enjoyable than the non-delightful delights.

Edelgard seemed to enjoy the little fruit tarts the most. The custard at the bottom of the little tarts were also very tasty and went well with the hot chocolate in the thermos.

The rain was pelting furiously at the glass now, irate that there was something beyond this hard surface that they could see but not reach. A bright flash of lightning illuminated the looming city skyline in the distance, seconds later, the loud clap of thunder that shook the very foundations of the building.

Byleth let out a small sigh of contentment.

“You like thunderstorms?” Edelgard asked curiously from beside her. She was buried under a few different blankets already.

“Yeah. I know some people find them scary but I love them. Especially those big claps of thunder that you can just feel right here-” Bylelth patted her chest in emphasis, “It just reminds me that I’m alive.”

Edelgard wiggled across the bed so she could curl into Byleth’s side. Byleth welcomed the contact, wrapping one arm across Edelgard’s shoulders and pulling her close. This wasn’t quite like their little rooftop hideaway like what they had in Derdriu, but this wasn’t Derdriu after all, this was nice in and of itself. Absentmindedly, Byleth rubbed gentle circles into Edelgard’s upper arm as she stared out the window at the raging storm outside.

“Not that I don’t appreciate this, Byleth. What is this about?” 

Byleth turned to peer down at Edelgard, who was very comfortably nestled in the crook of Byleth’s shoulder. “You didn’t think that I would let our date be interrupted just like that, did you?”

Edelgard blushed, burying her face into the white t-shirt that Byleth wore to bed. “I mean you do this kind of thing for nightmares and such-” Edelgard pulled away from Byleth sharply, expression turning into one of concern, “-did something happen? Did you have a nightmare?”

Byleth shook her head with a smile, “No, I’m alright. This isn't for me. This is for you.” 

“For me?” Edelgard asked, confused.

“This heist has you stressed out.” Byleth replied simply, pulling Edelgard closer. “There’s been a lot of new and old information coming in that you’ve had to digest. That can’t be easy.”

They sat like that for a long moment, Edelgard thinking things over and letting everything finally sink in while Byleth watched the lightning flash outside, the thunder pulsing an irregular rhythm in her chest.

“It’s been a long time since I thought about my mom.” Edelgard finally admitted. “It had long been put to rest in my mind. There is a lot that it seemed I was too young to understand.”

“I understand that feeling.” Byleth murmured.

Edelgard looked up at Byleth, finding only the underside of Byleth’s chin in view, her eyes still fixated somewhere far away.

“Byleth?” Edelgard whispered, almost afraid that if she would startle Byleth- scare her into running into the distant bursts of lightning, lose her to the blasts of thunder.

But in the end, Edelgard was louder than everything else in Byleth’s chest, her whisper drowning out the echoing rumbles that reminded her she was alive. Byleth smiled down at Edelgard. “It’s okay. I don’t have all the answers, but I have you, and I have the Black Eagles. And that’s all I need right now.”

Edelgard made a small noise of contentment and nuzzled closer to Byleth. “That’s good. I like having you too.” 

Byleth smiled, “You want to talk about your mom? Or do you want to move on to other subjects?”

“Hmmm. I think you’d like her.” Edelgard said quietly. “I think she would like you too. She was warm, gentle, and she would always listen to me no matter what silly thing I had to tell her. We used to spend days and days in the garden. My mother loved red carnations so my father devoted an entire garden to growing them for her. And when it snowed, he would fill the greenhouse with red carnations so that she could enjoy her favourite flower in the winter too.”

“Is that why you love red carnations so much?” 

“Yes. They remind me of simpler times. My mom, my dad, all of my siblings together. ” Edelgard’s gaze turned wistful. 

Whatever peace they had was immediately broken by the sound of Edelgard’s phone blaring loudly. 

They looked at each other for a moment, surprised, neither of them were expecting any calls. Hastily, Edelgard scrambled across the bed and picked up her phone.

“Dorothea? Hold on, hold on, stop crying. Where are you? Who’s bleeding? Byleth can you call Linhardt?”

* * *

  
  


“I finally got her to sleep.” 

Linhardt looked up from where he was examining the bruise on Caspar’s back. Mercedes looked tired as she returned to the small living room where she was currently hosting the two Black Eagles. Her long blonde hair was up in a messy bun, and she looked very comfortable in an old hoodie and sweats.

“That’s good. Did she tell you anything?” Linhardt carefully pulled Caspar’s shirt back down over his back. He patted Caspar’s head fondly- Caspar was out like a light on the couch. 

“Bits and pieces. A lot of tears. Something about her dad.” Mercedes frowned, eyebrows knitting together with tension. 

“I would tell you more, but I don’t think that’s my place to say anything.” Linhardt replied apologetically. 

“It’s alright. I’ll bake her a fresh batch of her favourite M&M cookies and some of my famous brownies tomorrow morning. It might not be much, but at least she’ll feel a little bit better.” Mercedes paused as she took in the sight of Caspar dozing peacefully on her couch while Linhardt gently brushed Caspar’s tousled hair out of his face.

“I’m glad she has you to support her,” Linhardt found himself smiling as Caspar snorted and twitched in his sleep.

“You’re not doing so bad yourself, Lin.” Mercedes' tone was teasing as she watched this interaction. “Oh, where are my manners. Do you want something to drink?”   
  


“No, no. It’s okay.” Linhardt stood up, his knees protesting the movement after crouching next to Caspar for so long. “We best be heading out anyway.”

Linhardt’s phone vibrated noisily in his pocket. He sighed and pulled the offending device out of his pocket. It was Edelgard. Linhardt sighed as he answered it, “Yes?”

_ “Lin? I need you and Caspar to meet me at the address I’ve just sent to Caspar. Bring whatever medical supplies you have.” _ There was the telltale noise of an engine in the background. Where was she headed this late at night?

Linhardt turned to look over at Caspar, who was rousing from his sleep, fumbling for his phone. “What’s happening?” 

_ “Petra’s hurt, badly from the sounds of it. I couldn’t get very much out of Dorothea, she’s in a panic. There’s a lot of blood.” _

“Is everything alright, Lin?” Mercedes asked, concerned, watching Linhardt’s expression change. 

Linhardt gestured at Caspar, who was blearily checking his phone. “That sounds like I’m going to need more than a first aid kit. Maybe we can break into a closed clinic.” Linhardt pulled the phone away from his ear for a brief moment to address Mercedes as he began moving toward the door, ”Do you have any medical supplies on hand?” 

“Of course!” Mercedes disappeared down the hall in a flurry of motion as Caspar leapt to his feet and patted his face forcefully a few times to wake himself up. The urgent tone in Linhardt’s voice made him snap to attention.

They met Mercedes at the door of the apartment where she was carrying a large box under her arm. She had thrown a sweater on and was waiting patiently with her shoes on.

“What are you doing?” Linhardt asked, pulling on his own shoes.

“I’m coming with you! I own my own practice, so we can use one of the rooms there if you really need to. No breaking in required! I’ve already left Annie a note and a plate of cookies.” By the tone in her voice, Linhardt knew that Mercedes was resolute in her decision.

Linhardt sighed, they were wasting precious seconds arguing about it. “Alright, let’s go. I’m not losing anyone today.” 

* * *

  
  


“How is she, Mercedes?” Edelgard asked.

Mercedes was the first one to return to the waiting room, Linhardt a minute behind her, having stayed behind briefly to talk to Petra in the examination room.

The Black Eagles made for a strange picture, gathered tensely in the small waiting room of Mercedes’ clinic. It had been a very long night, creeping into morning, and they were all too agitated to sleep properly. 

Byleth was sprawled across two chairs, arm draped across the back of Edelgard’s chair and then onto Edelgard’s shoulder. Ferdinand had dozed off against Hubert’s shoulder, hair falling over his face as he slipped back and forth between the land of sleep and wakefulness. Next to him, Hubert was frowning, face perpetually in a scowl as he looked over his tablet. Caspar was playing some kind of game on his phone with Bernadetta, the two of them hunched over their devices. Dorothea had her head buried in her hands, a blanket wrapped tightly around her, sitting by herself in the corner, staring at the floor.

“She’ll be fine. It looked a lot worse than it really was.” Mercedes smiled brightly, she looked no worse for wear. Not a hair out of place. “She needed stitches, but it won’t hamper her arm’s mobility or her dexterity. The wound wasn’t serious and didn’t hit anything important. A flesh wound in all senses of the term. It’ll be sore and you’ll have to keep changing the bandages to make sure it’s not infected or anything but everything is fine.” 

The group let out a collective sigh of relief. 

“Thank you for letting us use your clinic,” Edelgard crossed the waiting room to stand in front of Mercedes, shaking the doctor’s hand gratefully.

“Oh no worries. Lin is an old friend of mine from when we did our residencies together, and you guys helped me out with Annie so really I should be thanking you,” Mercedes shook Edelgard’s hand vigorously with a strong grip- she was much stronger than she let on.

As if he was summoned, Linhardt walked out of the examination room with Petra. He had one arm braced around her waist, helping her move slowly. Dorothea and Caspar were both at her side immediately, taking her from Linhardt’s side and helping her ease into one of the chairs.

“Are you going to fill me in on what happened?” Linhardt ran a hand through his hair, he was sweaty and stray strands were plastered to his face.

They all looked to Dorothea, who was staring down at her feet, unwilling to meet Petra’s concerned gaze and dejectedly began recounting the story. “We were watching Acheron’s house from down the street in the car and suddenly my window just shatters. Next thing I know, Petra has thrown herself out my door and she’s fighting with someone in the road. I know I should’ve gotten out of the car and helped her, but he drew a knife and I just froze up. I froze up and he got away before I could help.” 

“Why does it sound like you are blaming yourself for this?” Mercedes piped up from her spot across the room. She peered around Edelgard to look at Dorothea.

Surprised, Dorothea looked up at her as well.

Mercedes continued. “It was clearly a dangerous situation. And Petra got away with a pretty minor injury. Your joining the fray may not have helped, you might have gotten seriously hurt, Petra might have gotten seriously hurt.”

“She’s right Dorothea,” Edelgard stepped forward to hold Dorothea’s hand. Dorothea’s eyes widened further in surprise. “What’s happened has happened. We can plan all we like but sometimes things just happen.”

“And I am having told Linhardt, but I am having something. I am thinking that I am grabbing it during the fight.” Petra held up a hand, her whole arm shaking with exertion. She had a broken silver necklace, the chain wrapped loosely around her fist. A battered pendant of a mostly black cat with a tiny moon on its forehead dangled from the chain.

Recognition dawned in Edelgard’s eyes. Before she could say anything though, Mercedes was stepping forward, “Where did you get that?”

“I am having grabbed it during the fight?” Petra repeated, confused.

“That’s Emile’s! We have matching ones!” Mercedes pulled out a necklace from under her shirt. It was in much better condition. The white cat with the little moon on its forehead still retained most of its detailing. “We got them at one of those little capsule machines when we were children.”

The Eagles looked at each other, all of their minds spinning furiously as they struggled to process this new information.

“He’s still here in Arianrhod!” Mercedes gasped, clutching her hands together so tightly that Edelgard thought that she would leave nail marks in the back of her hand.

Edelgard turned and looked over at Hubert, who was staring at the pendant with the same intense look of recognition. 

“Wait, who’s Emile?” Caspar asked.

“Emile’s my brother!”

“Your brother? The one that you and Annette have been working on curing?” Linhardt ran his hand through his hair again. This was getting more tangled by the second.

“Curing?” Edelgard echoed, this was the first that she was hearing about a cure.

“Yes. That’s Emile! He developed a rare genetic disease when we were younger and there wasn’t any real cure. The doctors did all that they could to alleviate the symptoms but the disease was worsening. Then he told me that he found an experimental trial for a new medication in Arianrhod that looked promising. He got into the trial but I lost contact with him.” Mercedes trailed off, looking very concerned. “I just don’t understand why he would attack you. The Emile that I knew would never even hurt a fly.”

This was  _ another _ complication. Edelgard had never known Emile as Emile, to her he was the Death Knight- Jeritza when the mask came off. The pendant that was now clutched in Petra’s hand was one that Edelgard had never known him to take off. Wherever he went, he wore it under his clothes. It was very important to him. Now she knew why.

She had never known that Jeritza- Emile, was sick in any way though, but in the end there had to be a way that he was being controlled. His illness was just that, a leash on the beast that they commanded. 

Edelgard looked over at Hubert, conversing with him silently. 

The Death Knight was involved. He hadn’t left. This couldn’t be good. Edelgard mulled it over, trying to weigh out their options. They couldn’t afford to drop this heist now, there was too much at stake.

Edelgard pulled Hubert to the side and then downward so that she could whisper in his ear. “Try to arrange a meeting with Jeritza. We need to talk.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ughhhhh finalllllllly this chapter is done. Writing Gilbert was such a painnnnnnn. (Least favourite character in game please get your life together Gilbert)
> 
> But yay! We're gonna get into the meaty fun part of the heist hehehe next chapter. I can't wait!! 
> 
> Thank you for reading! Your kudos and comments are much appreciated <3
> 
> Please stay safe out there! And see you in two weeks :D


	16. Jeritza (Emile)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Black Eagles move in on the lion-dog statue.
> 
> An unexpected guest (or two) throws everything into disarray.
> 
> (TW: some mentions of blood)  
> (An angsty upsetting chapter all around please take care of yourself)

_“We’re in place.”_

_“Okay, I won’t be able to do much for you until you’re inside the house. Half the guards have just left for their smoke break. You have ten minutes. Hit the safe first.”_

_“Yeah, yeah, Hubert. We know. Clear out the safe then move upstairs for the rest of his collection. Locked and loaded!”_ Caspar flipped down his welder’s mask and fired up the laser, which pulsed with a bright red beam. A large battery was strapped to his back, this heist was not about leaving no trace. It wouldn’t particularly matter, Acheron was still away on some kind of a business trip, leaving his security guards as the only inhabitants of the place.

Next to Caspar, Edelgard sighed and flipped her own mask down. Caspar was far too excitable right now. Travelling through the sewers had been disgusting and trying. Fortunately, they had not encountered any rats, though every shifting shadow made Edelgard tense and walk a little bit closer to Byleth. She half expected Dorothea to make some kind of teasing comment when Edelgard practically jumped into Byleth’s space, but none came.

Dorothea was very intently focused on a spot beyond them, expression completely serious.

Edelgard would have to address that after. Even in the middle of heists, Dorothea always found the time to tease her, this was completely out of character.

The laser got to work, carving into the concrete with ease and in less than a minute, they had a nice sizable gap, large enough for them to fit through.

“We’re through, Hubert.” Edelgard peered into the basement. Caspar had placed the laser so they wouldn’t cut through anything important- like water, electrical, or phone lines. There was a large walk in safe embedded in the concrete opposite of the gap they made. 

Petra clambered into the basement easily. Her lithe form slipped past the uneven edges with grace and she made her way up to the safe. From the satchel on her hip, she produced a set of tools and quickly got to work cracking the safe. 

Unfortunately, the heat sensors built into the inside of the safe meant that they couldn’t just cut into the safe with the lasers. The safe was hooked up to the alarm system and would trigger an alarm if the heat sensors were triggered. Fortunately, they had one of the best safe crackers in all of Fodlan with them.

This safe was just another walk in the park for Petra.

_“Seventeen seconds.”_ Petra announced proudly. The safe door swung open with a reluctant creak. 

_“Motion detectors are off. We can proceed as planned.”_

Even with Hubert’s assurances, they moved cautiously into the safe. It was set up more like a display room. Each piece of art had their own place, own stand, own pedestal. Like a well oiled machine, they began removing pieces and loading it carefully into large padded crates on a cart that they had brought with them through the tunnels. 

_“We have a problem.”_

“What is it, Ferdinand?” Edelgard handed Caspar an ornate vase depicting what looked like two men kicking each other. Art could be so strange sometimes.

_“The two guards out on the front lawn appear to be dead?”_ Ferdinand was posing as a maintenance worker above ground. His role was to distract the guards on break if the need arose.

“Are you certain?” Edelgard looked over at Byleth, who was busy loading a large painting onto the cart. Byleth matched the gaze. She was frowning. This was definitely not something they wanted.

_“I can smell the blood through my nose plugs, Edelgard. I am very certain. It looks like their throats have been slit.”_

Byleth looked puzzled briefly at Ferdinand’s words but immediately snapped to attention when Edelgard gestured for them to move upstairs. 

_“I can confirm Ferdinand’s observations. I’m looping and moving cameras as we speak. I think it’s Jer- Emile. I’m not sure how he got past the cameras. But we can investigate that after we have dealt with this.”_ Hubert had been unable to contact Jeritza. They had delayed the heist by another day, hoping that something would pan out but Hubert finally left his little dark cave-office with a look of dejection on his face. They were going to have to make contact with Jeritza during the heist. Not ideal, but these things hardly were. _“I don’t see anyone outside… I think he’s stuck in a blindspot at the front door. He can’t get it open.”_ Hubert sighed. Man who probably just killed two people stopped by a reinforced door. _Classic._

“Let’s try to contain him, Byleth.” Edelgard began making her way up the stairs to the main floor. The front doors were a tricky pain in the neck “Dorothea? Can you get to the collection upstairs?”

Dorothea almost jumped at the sound of her name. She stared, wide-eyed at Edelgard. There was a brief second of hesitation. “Yes, of course.” 

Edelgard exchanged a look with Byleth. They were both sort of concerned over Dorothea’s recent behaviour. 

“I will be going with you Dorothea!” Petra smiled brightly, stepping back through the gap. “Caspar is almost being done here. I can be going with you to help with locks!” 

Edelgard nodded. This was an acceptable option. Petra’s earlier injury was healing nicely and hadn’t hampered her usual abilities at all. Perhaps Petra could help out with whatever worry was plaguing Dorothea at the moment as well.

They headed upstairs. The stairs opened out into a large foyer, complete with a giant crystal chandelier. Someone was at the door, struggling to open it. 

Byleth gestured with her head, indicating that Dorothea and Petra should continue upwards, while she and Edelgard moved across the foyer. They paused and then moved so that they flanked the door, communicating without a sound- it felt like they had been doing this together for a long time.

_“3...2...1.”_ Byleth counted down with her finger silently, a gloved hand on the door.

Byleth wrenched open the door and immediately, Edelgard reached through and pulled the figure crouched in front of the door into the foyer. Surprised, a lanky figure in a creepy skull mask fell through. 

_The Death Knight._

Edelgard was on his right arm as soon as he was inside, using her entire body to pin the limb down so that he couldn’t reach for the knife that was sheathed on his belt. He scrabbled at the smooth marble beneath him, unable to find any real purchase on the slick surface.

The set of lock picks that he had been working with clinked softly to the marble floor.

Byleth quickly closed and locked the door after him.

“Stop struggling!” Edelgard grunted, “We just want to talk to you!” 

The Death Knight bucked, trying to throw Edelgard off of his back. He twisted frantically in her grip, trying to get his hand underneath his midsection to grab his knife.

“Stop struggling!” Edelgard commanded him again. With much effort, she managed to lock her legs around his midsection, wrenching upward on the arm, trying to get the man to surrender without causing any further damage. 

He only thrashed more violently, Edelgard ignored the few hits that he managed to land on her with his other hand flailing back towards her. The struggle caused her earpiece to bounce on the marble floor, as Byleth grabbed both flailing legs with a grunt, pulling them back toward Edelgard as well. 

Edelgard leaned forward to hiss quietly in his ear, “It’s Edelgard. Your emperor commands you to stop.” 

A beat passed. Then he went limp as a dead fish in their grip. Byleth looked at her, confused. “We’re going to let you go now. We just want to talk. But we won’t hesitate to beat you into the ground if you try anything.” Edelgard knew at this point that he wouldn’t struggle any further, but it didn’t hurt to make sure. Carefully, Edelgard unhooked the knife from his belt and tucked it in her own belt. Byleth cautiously lowered his legs back to the ground and paused, as if expecting that he would lash out again the minute they released their grip.

But he remained unmoving.

Byleth hesitantly got up from the floor and scooped up the fallen lock picks and Edelgard’s earpiece. The earpiece, she handed back to Edelgard before making her way closer to the stairs. She was still within diving distance if she needed to pin him down again, but she wanted to keep an eye out for any other surprises as well. Something was wrong. Byleth couldn’t quite put her finger on what it was, but it was quiet in the house. Too quiet.

The Death Knight coughed weakly. The motion was difficult with Edelgard’s weight on his back but he didn’t complain. Edelgard popped the earpiece back into her ear.

“Why are you here?” Edelgard asked. They might as well start there.

“I have to retrieve a statue- ” Another cough, it sounded wet. That couldn’t be a good sign. “A cat-dog of some kind... white marble. About a foot and a half tall.” 

“Lion-dog,” Edelgard corrected before she could help herself. “Who sent you?” 

“You know... who sent me.”

Byleth raised her eyebrows at Edelgard, clearly not expecting this answer.

“I don’t know. There’s a lot of people in this world.” Edelgard sighed. Why was he making this so difficult?

“Cornelia.” He said slowly.

“The one who has control of the Blaiddyd estate?” Edelgard had honestly been expecting this answer. It was nice to get confirmation nonetheless.

“I think so. I was never privy... to her business dealings though.” He sucked in a ragged breath. 

“Do you know why she wants the statue?” How did Cornelia find out about the statue? Was it the mole that Gilbert was talking about earlier? Did Cornelia know how important the statue was?

“I was only told… to retrieve it… not why I had to. Sometimes I feel like she makes me do things because she’s bored.” He was bitter, Edelgard could tell, tired of a fate he wasn’t in control of.

“We should go,” Byleth kept peering down the hall at where the security guards’ offices were. The heavy door was closed at the moment and while she was certain that they could handle the remainder of the guards, they had dawdled here too long as it was. Something didn’t feel right, it made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up.

Edelgard nodded in agreement. “Okay. We can keep talking once we’re out of here.” She began hauling the Death Knight to his feet. He was surprisingly light, perhaps she should stop underestimating her own strength.

“I need the statue,” he wheezed as he was unceremoniously placed back on his feet by Edelgard.

“We can’t let you have the statue.” Edelgard told him brusquely. 

The Death Knight turned around to stare at Edelgard, studying her expression. Byleth moved closer, not only to begin to usher them down the stairs, but also to be ready just in case he decided to lunge at Edelgard. 

“You’re going to have to kill me then.” He intoned flatly. 

“Absolutely not. I don’t kill people.” She paused and let the ‘ _anymore’_ go unsaid. 

He tilted his head to the side curiously, puzzling over her words. “You know how vindictive Cornelia can get. If I don’t return with the statue…” he trailed off, his eyes glazing over at the thought of it. “Either let me have the statue or kill me. I cannot live like this any longer.” He coughed again, and both of them could hear the distinct sound of something wet splattering on the inside of his mask. A thin trail of red was beginning to ooze down his very pale neck. 

“You’re bleeding,” Edelgard gasped. She could feel Byleth's piercing stare on the back of her neck but she ignored it to tend to the matter at hand first.

“I’m dying,” The Death Knight wheezed, “I couldn’t get away… Cornelia… I don’t have... any medicine left.” 

“For your illness?” Edelgard grabbed him by the waist, he was struggling to stay up on his feet. Why on earth he decided to attempt to retrieve the statue in this state was beyond her. There was a good chance he would just end up passed out in the middle of the house, too weak to move. He must have truly been desperate. Desperate people did desperate things.

“Yes… she’s been withholding… my medicine… to get me to cooperate…” 

Edelgard didn’t realize how thin the man next to her really was when she was busy trying to hold him down, but now, arm around his waist, he was all skin and bone. His form was filled out by the thick jacket he was wearing, padded with some kind of armour. But even through the armour and padding, Edelgard could tell he was not well. She wondered how much of his weight was actually him, and how much of it was the clothes on his body.

The sound of sirens in the distance made Edelgard freeze and look over at Byleth in alarm. The alarms in the house hadn’t been triggered from what they could tell and Hubert would’ve let them know if something like that had happened. 

_“_ _Two ambulances, three police cars, and two firetrucks._ _There's a major car accident about on the major highway just east of us. They’re just passing by. Nothing to worry about.”_

“Your sister has been looking for you. She’s been working on a cure for you. It’s almost ready.” Edelgard began moving him towards the stairs, they could probably load him onto the cart along with the rest of the art, just another thing the Eagles had stolen.

“Mercedes?” He said the name with a strange sense of wonder. It was almost like a child discovering a rainbow for the first time.

“Yes. She’s been working all these years on curing your illness. She’s been looking for you. To cure you.” Edelgard stretched up on her tippy-toes to whisper into his ear. “I told you to get out.”

“They told me... there was no other treatment.”

“That may have been true before. But that’s never true for long, especially with someone like Mercedes helming the research.” Lies and half-truths, Edelgard was familiar with Cornelia’s tactics to keep her underlings in line. Apparently, Cornelia hadn’t changed all that much over the years.

_“You guys? I need help. Petra, honey, hang in there please. I need Linhardt._ _Guys? Where are you guys? You have to come quickly. Why is this not working still? Guys!”_ Dorothea’s voice, trembling, scared, cut through the earpieces. All traces of her usual unshakeable confidence was gone. She sounded unfamiliar, the change jarring and sudden.

_“Dorothea? Where are you? I can’t see you on any of the feeds. Let me cut the loops. Why are these ones going dark? What’s happening?”_

“Byleth? I’m going to bring him down through the tunnels, can you handle upstairs?” Edelgard asked as she herded the Death Knight down the stairs.

Byleth nodded and sprinted up the stairs. Something was wrong. Something was very, very wrong. “I’m on my way, Dorothea!”

* * *

  
  


Dorothea led the way up the staircase to the second floor. Aside from a library, a study, several bedrooms, and a ridiculously large walk in closet that was really more of its own room than a closet, there was an open space that was specifically used to display pieces of art. It was at the back of the house, overlooking the back garden.

The second floor was quiet and dark, save for the warm spotlights that lit up the various displays at the end of the hallway. Dorothea strode forward, mustering her confidence. Based on blueprints and electrical diagrams that Hubert found, there were six displays in total. Just six pieces to snag and bag and then they were out of here.

To their surprise, someone else was already in the room. 

A shadow was examining a display case in the center of the room- the display case housing their true target, the lion-dog statue. The figure seemed to feel her eyes on them and whirled around to face them. 

It was all Dorothea could do to keep herself from gasping audibly. 

_Kronya._

Since the Black Eagles’ last close call with Kronya, all of them had the image of Kronya burned into their minds, they would recognize her from anywhere. Her unnatural orange hair almost looked like it was aflame with the way that the spotlight now danced on her hair. She didn’t look surprised to see them, but more like she was delighted. A large smile spread across her face. 

“Well what do we have here?” her voice was high pitched but scratchy. The sound of it grated against Dorothea ears and nerves. Kronya stalked forward, her strides unnatural in the way that her joints and limbs seemed to be moving in the wrong direction. It felt like watching a spider creep across the floor.

“What are you doing here?” Dorothea ground out, carefully schooling her features into a composed mask. Kronya was just another obstacle, just another mark. Petra had disappeared from Dorothea’s side, slipping into the shadows with her usual grace and uncanny ability. Dorothea couldn’t tell if Kronya had seen their resident thief yet but if she could get Kronya far enough away from the case and distracted, Petra could snatch the statue and they could leave. They’d have to leave the other pieces but they would have what they came for.

“I’m just admiring… the art.” Kronya’s smile glinted dangerously in the low light, she passed into the faint darkness between two displays. Dorothea could only just make out the whites of her teeth and eyes. “Although I could ask the same of you. You’re awfully pretty. But that’s how you survive isn’t it?” 

Dorothea watched Kronya airily, eyeing her as she stalked ever closer. “Are you jealous?” She ran her thumb over her ring. Fortunately, she was prepared this time. In addition to the recently refilled poison ring she had, the two long metal hair pins holding her bun together were laced in a similar poison. 

“Just afraid for you. What will happen when you’re no longer beautiful? When people no longer want to look at you? When they leave you in the dust for someone younger? Someone prettier? Someone better? ” Kronya reappeared in the next beam of light. Her shadow was elongated, a twisted image of the deadly figure, creeping along with her across the wooden floors.

Dorothea steeled herself, forcing herself not to flinch at Kronya’s words echoing some of her own worst fears. Just past Kronya’s head, Dorothea could see Petra peeking carefully around a display case near the corner of the room, it was kind of out of the way. It was of another statue, a bird of some kind. She pulled out a set of lock picks and got to work. In a matter of seconds, Petra had the display open. From her hip satchel, she pulled out a black cloth bag and wrapped up the bird statue in it.

What was Petra doing? Surely she didn’t mean to grab all the pieces of art here? But Petra ducked back around the display case and reappeared next to the lion-dog statue.

“Why if I didn’t know any better, I’d think that was a threat.” Dorothea laid a hand across her chest in mock offense. “You wouldn’t be threatening me, would you?”

Kronya’s only response was to lick her lips, drawing ever closer. Dorothea held her ground, she wasn’t going to let Kronya intimidate her.

“You’re old news,” Dorothea tells her dismissively. “Creeping around, pretending you’re some big scary monster when you just look like a D-list celebrity in a campy, low budget b-movie. I’ve seen the likes of you before. Pretending you’re edgy and dark, but it’s all just a facade isn’t it? You’re like a fifteen year old who never grew out of their rebellious scene phase.” 

Kronya was only mere feet away now. Dorothea tightened her grip around her ring, ready to deploy the hidden needle anytime now. She didn’t know what weapons Kronya had on her, but Edelgard had warned everyone that Kronya was dangerous, _deadly._

Petra successfully opened the display and grabbed the lion-dog statue. Quietly, she ducked back around the display, blending seamlessly with the shadows.

The home stretch was in sight. Now they just had to leave.

“You seem awfully distracted. Don’t you know that it’s dangerous not to pay attention to me?” Kronya hissed, suddenly she leapt forward at Dorothea. There was a glint of something metallic in her hands and instinctively Dorothea leapt back. After spending so much time dodging Caspar’s inane pranks, her body seemed to move on its own. 

Good thing she did too, as a knife slashed the air where she had been moments ago. The edge of the blade was spattered with blood already, not quite dry yet.

“And don’t you know that it’s dangerous not to pay attention to me?” Dorothea yanked out one of her hairpins and brandished it at Kronya. 

“Now, now. That little thing is no match for my knives,” Kronya’s smile was sickeningly sweet. She leaned forward, shifting her weight. Dorothea knew enough to know that she was readying another strike and brought her hairpin up defensively. It was better than nothing. But before either of them could make a move, there was a blur of movement and Petra was suddenly slamming into Kronya’s side, sending her stumbling off balance.

Petra yelped, shoving her other hand into her mouth to muffle the sound as Kronya’s other hand came down, a knife seemingly materializing out of nowhere, she was left with a thin line of red down her forearm.

“I knew you weren’t alone.” Kronya purred, sizing up Petra, eyes lingering on the black bundle in her arms. Kronya brought a knife up to her eye level, holding it so that she could use the polished surface like a mirror, looking over the displays without having to turn her head. “You’ve done the hard work and brought me a gift.” 

The way that Kronya was looking at Petra made Dorothea wildly uncomfortable, not just in fear but in something that she really didn’t have the brain power to process at the moment.

Before Kronya could act again, the sound of distant sirens interrupted them. Dorothea jumped on the chance. “My partners have called the cops. They’ll be here any second now. I think it's best you get out of here before they get here. _My beauty_ and I can talk our way out of anything. I can’t say the same for someone who dresses like it's Halloween everyday of the year.”

Kronya’s jaw clenched. There was a wild look in her eyes that she couldn’t place. “You’re awfully cocky for someone who hasn’t won.” With that, she brought a small spherical object to her lips and pulled the pin off with her teeth. The small sphere clattered to the floor and rolled toward them.

“Grenade!” Petra exclaimed, flinging the black cloth bag to the side as she leapt forward before Dorothea could react, covering the object with her body.

Dorothea flinched away instinctively even though every part of her was screaming at her in horror at what could be Petra’s last moments.

There was a long pause. Silence. 

“Stupid piece of garbage! That vermin promised this would work!” Kronya whined, stomping her foot. 

A faint anticlimactic pop could be heard, and then a loud hissing sound as a noxious green plume suddenly burst into the air, surrounding Petra with a sickly green cloud. 

Dorothea could feel the substance burn slightly as it wafted over to her. She covered her nose and mouth, trying her best not to breathe it in. Her eyes watered and her vision blurred. This was some kind of a poisonous gas. She didn’t know which one exactly but her tolerance seemed to be rendering the worst of it useless.   
  


Petra, on the other hand, was curled up into a little ball on the floor. Her entire body shook, the poison running amok in her untrained system. 

“I’ll be taking this from you!” Kronya chirped as she scooped up the black bag that Petra had tossed to the side. “Oh you’re still up?" Kronya glanced at her with a look of annoyance like she was a piece of gum stuck on the bottom of her shoe. "Stronger constitution than most, I see. How delightful. Don’t worry. It’ll all be over in less than twenty minutes. A nice drawn out and painful death. I wish I could witness the whole thing.” Kronya licked her lips at the thought of it, like she was envisioning a delicious meal.

With that, she grinned devilishly, waved and then dropped out of a window on the far side of the room.

Dorothea dropped to Petra’s side and began dragging her clear of the plume of green fumes. Petra twitched under Dorothea’s hands, her muscles spasming wildly. Hurriedly, Dorothea laid her down. She fumbled for the hidden vial syringe of antitoxin that she carried on her person. It was a general antitoxin that Linhardt had developed for the different poisons that Dorothea used, a just-in-case should she need it. 

Petra arms were spasming so violently that Dorothea had to pin her left arm down with her knee so that she could administer the antitoxin. Perhaps asking Linhardt to make an intramuscular version of the antitoxin next time would be most helpful.

The spasms settled somewhat as the antidote worked its science through Petra’s body. Dorothea knew that it was only a temporary stopgap measure though. The antitoxin was not specifically designed for this poison and a proper antidote would have to be administered, and soon.

The canister finally rolled to a stop, having been sent skittering across the floor when Petra’s muscles spasmed. It bumped lightly against a display case.

“Guys? Guys I need Linhardt? Guys?” Dorothea almost yelled into her com. She tapped the earpiece a few times. No response, just a faint static noise. 

Something was interfering with their signal. 

“Dor...thea,” Petra gasped. “Sta...tue…in cor...ner.”

“Petra, honey. Don’t worry about the statue. I need you to hang on okay? I’m going to try to get you downstairs.” Dorothea moved to get up to try to drag Petra down the hall again. The interference must be messing with the cameras as well, otherwise Hubert would’ve already sent one of the other Eagles to help. 

“Sta...tue…” Petra repeated, grabbing at Dorothea’s hand. Her nails were digging into the back of Dorothea’s hand but Dorothea ignored it, scrambling to the indicated darkened corner and picking up the lion-dog statue that Petra had brilliantly stashed there earlier. Dorothea had half a mind to just smash the damned thing, none of this was worth it if it cost Petra her life. On the way back, Dorothea scooped up the empty canister as well. There were going to be trace amounts of whatever was in there that they could use for trying to figure out what the appropriate antidote was. 

“Alright, honey. I’m gonna move you downstairs.” Dorothea grunted as she tucked the statue between Petra’s spasming arms and began dragging Petra down the hall again. Fortunately, the hallway was hardwood and Petra slid relatively easily across the floor- no carpet burns either but that seemed like it was hardly worth mentioning now. “Guys?” Dorothea tried the coms again but no response.

“Dor...thea,” Petra’s breathing came fast and shallow, her lips were greying and her skin clammy. “S’ok… i’m oh… kay…” 

“Petra, please honey, I’m going to get you out of here, don’t worry. I just need you to hang in there alright? Don’t you dare fall asleep on me okay?” Dorothea moved faster. They were so close. A thin trickle of blood was beginning to trail down her nose. For all of her knowledge and experience with poisons, Dorothea’s mind was suddenly blank. Her general antitoxin wasn’t as general as she hoped.

Petra reached up with her hand, trembling. She couldn’t lift it much further than a few centimeters, but the way that her bloodshot eyes were flicking back and forth between Dorothea and her hand, Dorothea knew she wanted her to take her hand.

So she did. Petra’s hand were surprisingly soft. Calluses lined her finger tips and along the base of each finger where the knuckles were. Dorothea never realized how small Petra’s hands were, how small Petra was. Looking at her now, drawn up into a ball as soon as Dorothea had stopped moving, the thief looked so young, so vulnerable.

“Dor… thea… I am… want you… to know… “ Petra stared up at Dorothea, her eyes flicking from side to side, seeing but not quite seeing. Her voice was so quiet that Dorothea had to lean in to hear her. “...I love you.” Petra breathed, her breath ghosted over her lips bringing those three words with them. The words danced over Dorothea’s face, a trail of light kisses as the breath dissipated into the air. Dorothea stared down at Petra for a moment in shock. And like a robot who had finally achieved her objective, Petra’s head slumped forward. The robot had lost all power.

Dorothea gaped at Petra’s unmoving form. Her brain refused to process those words, refused to process what was happening. She had to get Petra out of here. Her body moved on its own, checking Petra’s pulse. It was weak but still there. “You guys? I need help. Petra, honey, hang in there please. I need Linhardt.” There was no response, just a faint crackle of static. “Guys? Where are you guys? You have to come quickly. Why is this not working still? Guys!”

_“Dorothea? Where are you? I can’t see you on any of the feeds. Let me cut the loops. Why are these ones going dark? What’s happening?”_

Dorothea had never been so glad to hear Hubert’s voice. But hearing Hubert’s voice through the earpieces suddenly brought reality crashing down around Dorothea. Before, when it was just her and Petra and the rest of the team were unreachable, it didn’t feel real- perhaps a _folie a deux._

Their shared delusion. 

But with Hubert’s voice here, the bubble was broken, everything was real. The limp body of Petra in her arms was really there. Dorothea felt like a tsunami had just crashed over her, overwhelming her and dragging her under.

_“I’m on my way, Dorothea!”_

Byleth. Byleth and her strange but brilliant mind could fix this. 

The teal mop of head appeared at the top of the stairs seconds later and the next thing that Dorothea knew, Byleth was scooping Petra up into her arms and heading down the stairs. The statue that they came for was held in place against Petra’s side by her arm muscles which had locked in place. A rapid fire string of instructions flew from her mouth. “Linhardt, bring the car around to the front. I need you in the backseat.” Byleth coughed, the residual fumes weren’t very strong, but still enough to tickle her throat. “I’ll drive. We’re coming out the front. Hubert, you’re gonna have to cover us.”

_“Already working on it. I’ve opened the front gate.”_

Dorothea scrambled after Byleth. Down the stairs and out the front door they went, sprinting across the front lawn and through the front gate that Byleth simply shouldered through.

_“Do we know what’s wrong with Petra?”_

“Poison,” Dorothea said, keeping in stride with Byleth. “I resisted the worst of it but I don’t know what it is. I gave Petra the general antitoxin that I carry, it helped but I don’t think it's doing enough.” 

_“Ferdinand! I need you and your nose in the car as well!”_

Said man hurried after them, pulling the front gate closed behind them as they left. 

“Nose?” Byleth asked quizzically as she slid Petra into the backseat, where Linhardt was rifling through a medical kit.

“I have a very sensitive sense of smell.” Ferdinand sighed. He climbed in after Petra and removed a small pair of transparent nose plugs from his nose. He flinched immediately, recoiling at the sudden assault of his senses. 

“Ferdinand is a literal human bloodhound.” Linhardt told Byleth as Dorothea clambered into the front passenger seat. “Time to put that nose to the test. See if you can figure out what this might be.” Linhardt rifled through his medical kit with one hand and checked Petra’s pulse with the other.

Ferdinand made a face of disgust as he took another hesitant breath through his nose.

“I have the canister Kronya dropped.” Dorothea said breathlessly and pulled the empty canister from a hidden pocket within her outfit.

Byleth nearly slammed on the brakes.

“Kroyna?” Her hands were clenched so tight around the wheel that it looked like she might actually break the steering wheel. 

Dorothea couldn’t answer her, the acrid smell that lingered on her hands even after she handed the canister to Ferdinand who hurriedly sealed it into a freezer bag, sent her mind spiralling back to Kronya. The sinister smile on her face, the way that her knives sang when they cut through the air, the childlike tone in her voice, Petra’s ashen lips, her muscles locking and seizing-all of it washed over Dorothea.

It felt like Dorothea was in a glass dome, everything felt muted and distant, voices echoing. She was locked away from the world- and the world’s best lock picker was dying in the backseat of the car. 

There was nobody left who could reach her.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We reach the end of this heist with a bang! (Well... more of an upsetting popping noise really)
> 
> Things are upsetting and angsty and someone give Dorothea a hug.
> 
> This chapter was a real doozy to write- not as bad as the Gilbert involved chapters but this one and the following two really took a long time as I struggled to nail down what exactly I wanted it to look like and where I wanted to things to go. Like I knew in my head how this would all end, it was getting there in an effective manner that really got me.
> 
> (anyway I'm not going to be changing my archive warnings for this fic so take that as you will)
> 
> I will see y'all in two weeks for the next chapter! Thank you for reading and as always, your kudos and comments are always much appreciated (and a little highlight of my day when I get to read them and chat with y'all). You can find me over on twitter at bardigrade if u wanna yell.
> 
> Stay safe out there <3


	17. Petra

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Black Eagles deal with the aftermath of their last heist. Stress levels are at an all time high.
> 
> Dorothea blames herself for everything that happened :(

Everything passed by in a blurry haze. Dorothea only briefly registered that they were in a hospital. Mercedes was waiting there for them. Edelgard showed up with a tall and pale man that Mercedes whisked off into the hospital. 

Petra also vanished into the too white, too clean, too bright, depths of the hospital, taking Linhardt and Ferdinand with her. 

Dorothea sat numbly in the waiting room for what must have been hours, days, maybe even years. Nothing made sense, everything was zipping past her too quickly but at the same time moving too slowly. 

Voices spoke around her, maybe they were talking to her, maybe they were talking over her, Dorothea didn’t know. She didn’t care to know. She knew that if she focused she could probably figure out what was happening around her right now but she really couldn’t bring herself to do so.

A gentle blanket of warmth draped over Dorothea’s shoulders.

Dorothea looked up in surprise, finding the bright blues of Byleth’s eyes staring down at Dorothea in concern. She had draped her leather jacket over Dorothea’s shoulders. It wasn’t that cold in the middle of the waiting room in the dead heat of late summer, but Dorothea was extremely grateful for the jacket all the same.

The warmth emanating from the jacket, the remainders of Byleth’s body heat, felt like a hot cup of cocoa on a cold day against Dorothea’s cool and clammy skin. Speaking of hot cocoa, Caspar appeared in her vision, holding a white paper cup with steam rising out of it. He wrapped her fingers carefully around the cup, holding her hands around the cup until he was confident that she wouldn’t drop or spill the hot drink. Caspar said nothing, sitting next to her instead. His knee bumped gently against hers, a gentle physical reminder that he was present.

The smell of it filled Dorothea’s nose, pushing away the cloying smell of sanitizers and chemicals, the cold metallic smell that Dorothea always associated with hospitals. Dorothea took a small sip of the drink. The sweet drink washed over Dorothea’s tongue but Dorothea couldn't taste anything beyond the acrid taste of the poison lingering in her mouth. The warmth of the drink flowed down her throat, warming her from the inside out. She took a few more sips, trying to wash the bitterness away but to no avail.

Bernie appeared on Dorothea’s other side. She offered Dorothea her far hand, open, palm up, holding it there until Dorothea took it. With her other arm, she wrapped it around Dorothea’s shoulders, pulling her close and rubbing her shoulders with a movement similar to one that might be used when trying to warm someone up.

Dorothea allowed Bernie to hold her tightly, resting her head on Bernie’s shoulder.

They sat like that for who knows how long. 

Finally, Linhardt, Edelgard, and Ferdinand reappeared. Linhardt looked absolutely haggard, and Caspar leapt up from his feet to sweep the other green-haired man into his arms.

Dorothea also wanted to rush to them but she didn’t trust the weakness in her legs to even close the small distance between them which felt like a vast canyon. 

“Petra’s stable right now. We’ll continue monitoring her to make sure everything is okay. But the next few days are going to be rocky. She’s still unconscious. Thankfully, Annette really came through for us on this one with finding a suitable antidote.” Linhardt sighed tiredly.

Dorothea suddenly felt very tired at the sound of those words. Relief washed over her but it didn’t feel as freeing as she had imagined. All the pressure and energy escaping from her body as she heard those words. It felt like those words were a secret password that released all the tension in her. Bernadetta eeped as suddenly more of Dorothea’s weight suddenly leaned on her.

“Let’s get you home,” Edelgard decided, moving to Dorothea’s side.

“I want to stay,” Dorothea struggled to lift herself up from Bernadetta’s side. 

“You are in no condition to argue, Dorothea.” Edelgard reprimanded sternly,

“I want to stay,” Dorothea insisted stubbornly.

“Stand up then.”

“What?” Dorothea glared at the leader of the Black Eagles. Why was Edelgard being so stubborn right now?

“If you can stand up, I’ll let you stay.” Edelgard met Dorothea’s stare unflinchingly, a battle of iron wills.

Dorothea gritted her teeth and tried to push away from Bernadetta’s side. All of her muscles felt like jello, unresponsive and limp. She definitely would have fallen flat on her face as she got up if Edelgard wasn’t there to catch her.

There was no “I told you so” like Dorothea expected, but Edelgard simply hoisted Dorothea up into her arms, bridal style and began marching towards the front doors. A wave of something heavy washed over Dorothea, a feeling that she didn’t have the capacity to place right now. Shame perhaps. Disappointment? 

It all felt very foreign and unfamiliar, settling in the bottom of her chest like a rock. The jagged edges of the rock cut at her the more she turned the feeling over, leaving her drained and hurt as Edelgard settled her in the backseat of the car.

Dorothea drifted through a dark cloud. The rock in her chest dragged her down, pulling her relentlessly through the storm. Instead of thunder, Petra’s final few words echoed around her.

* * *

  
  


“How is she?” Byleth asked as Edelgard peered into Byleth’s room. 

The Black Eagles leader looked exhausted, but here she was checking in on Byleth.

“She’s finally asleep.” Edelgard rubbed her temples. Her shoulders were slouching, perfect posture rapidly disappearing. “Bernadetta volunteered to check in on her later.” Edelgard crossed the room in a few strides to sit on the bed next to Byleth. “And you? How are you feeling?” 

Byleth let out a long breath. She handed Edelgard a steaming mug that she had prepared for her earlier. 

  
Edelgard gave it a sniff, curious as to what the mug held.

“Chamomile.” Byleth explained with a shrug. ”You need to sleep.”

“Thank you,” Edelgard took a sip gratefully but she didn’t let the tea distract her, “How are you feeling?”

“Honestly?” 

“Please.” Edelgard set the tea aside so that she could focus fully on Byleth.

“I don’t know.” Byleth admitted. Emotions swirled around in her head, tossing her like a small boat in the middle of a raging storm.

“That’s completely okay.” Edelgard reassured Byleth. She reached out, taking Byleth’s hand into her own.

Byleth allowed Edelgard to take her hand, staring at this point of connection between them. If anything, Byleth was a little bit scared to untangle her mess of emotions. It felt like if she began pulling on the loose thread now, she would just keep unravelling and unravelling until there was nothing left to her. That scared her.

But Edelgard looked at her with such warmth and understanding and patience that maybe someone would be there to help put her back together at the end of it all.

Byleth took a deep breath, letting the breath fill her with a strength that she didn’t think she really had. “I think I’m angry. I wish I could go back and face her. She was so close and she just slipped through my fingers. It's…” she paused, searching for the right word to describe what she was feeling. “...disappointing.” She didn’t give voice to the many other questions that she had in her head. 

All of these strange little interactions that Edelgard had with all these other people that made her raise her eyebrows. Edelgard had her own secrets and questions as well. But perhaps now was not the time and place to be asking such things- Edelgard was trying her best to be open with Byleth, as difficult as it was.

  
  
Byleth could wait.

“That’s understandable.” Edelgard squeezed Byleth’s hand gently in a gesture of assurance. Her hands were still warm from holding the cup of tea and Byleth could feel calluses that lined Edelgard’s palm brush over her knuckles. “It's a very human thing to feel.”

“I wish I had all the answers.”

“I wish I had more answers for you.”

* * *

  
  


Dorothea stared blankly at the beeping heart monitor. A little green squiggle on the screen indicated that Petra was still alive. All kinds of different wires and tubes ran from different pieces of equipment to Petra’s unmoving form. 

Had Petra always looked this frail? This small? This pale?

Everything that Dorothea thought she knew had been thrown into disarray.

Petra’s breath came evenly, the rise and fall of her chest a small comfort to Dorothea’s bleeding heart. When would this stop hurting? 

“You should eat something,” Bernie’s voice was small, meek. “You haven’t eaten all day.” 

“I’m not hungry.” Dorothea found herself saying. The words spilled out of her mouth before she could even really register what she was saying. 

_ A lie. _

Her body reminded her as the hurt moved lower with the dull pangs of hunger gnawing at her from the inside but those were easy to ignore when other pains were so much sharper, so much more pressing. 

The little green blips on the screen passed by at a regular rate, the only sign that time was even passing by. Not that it mattered how much time, how many steady heartbeats were accumulating on the other side of the screen. As long as more little blips kept moving across the screen at a regular rate, Dorothea would be okay.

_ That was a lie. _

All these lies. 

_ Lies. Lies. Lies. _

She had spent so long lying to marks during heists that maybe she couldn’t even recognize when she was just lying to herself.

“-thea. Dorothea!” 

Dorothea snapped back to reality. Her eyes focused on the figure standing in front of her. Edelgard. When had Edelgard gotten here? Wasn’t Bernie sitting beside her- the seat beside her seemed to have been long vacated.

“It's time to go.”

“What?” Dorothea asked numbly. When had it gotten so dark out? The sun had long set, leaving the harsh light of the street lamps to light the hospital room that Petra laid in.

Edelgard glared down at her but her expression held no bite, no anger, no harshness. Just soft concern. “It’s time to go. Linhardt is here to sit with Petra.” 

“No, no. I’m okay. I’ll stay.”

_ Lies. _

“When was the last time you ate?” Edelgard frowned at her, folding her arms across her chest. “Don’t lie to me.” 

_ Lies. _

With nowhere to go, Dorothea shrunk in on herself, turning away from Edelgard’s piercing stare. 

“Come on, Ferdie made some of your favourite soup.”

_ All lies. _

* * *

Edelgard watched Dorothea pick at her soup, eating bits of it and pushing the rest of it around her bowl.

“Are you okay, Dorothea?” Edelgard asked finally from over top of a cup of tea. It was heartbreaking to watch the usually confident and vivacious woman reduced to the hollow husk that sat before her. “Do you want me to make you something else to eat?”

“No, no, no, Edie, I’m fine,” Dorothea shook her head tiredly with a small smile. “This is delicious.” 

Edelgard pursed her lips, considering everything carefully. She wanted to say more but decided against it. “My door is always open if you need anything.”

There was a long pause as Edelgard waited for Dorothea to say something else, but no words came. The silence draped itself over the room, heavy and oppressive. Edelgard never expected this to happen between her and Dorothea. They always had things to talk about, always had playful banter, something- some kind of comfortable companionship that had always existed. 

Now Edelgard felt like she was staring at a complete stranger.

After a while, Edelgard retreated to her room, no longer able to stand the yawning chasm that had seemingly opened between her and her dear friend. 

She didn’t want to push Dorothea right now. Dorothea needed some space and time to figure things out on her own and process things on her own. But the way that she was wallowing and retreating into herself was not something that could go on indefinitely. The way that Dorothea remained tightlipped about all the details about what had gone on upstairs with Kronya and Petra was also worrisome. 

The lion-dog statue sat on her desk, and Edelgard stared at it, letting her vision unfocus as she did. All this trouble for a statue and some papers. Things were always more complicated, more dangerous, more deadly when Kronya was involved.

She was glad that they were finally wrapping up this heist.

Fingers trembling, she reached out and stroked the chin of the statue like one might do for a real dog- her mind already elsewhere. She remembered seeing the statue on display in her mother’s office when she was younger. She remembered begging for a small dog, and her mother pulling her into her lap to point at the little lion-dog statue and being told “they had a little dog already”. She remembered being allowed to scritch the lion-dog under the chin, her mother making little barking noises as the lion-dog came to life before her.

That seemed like an entirely different lifetime ago. A different person even.

Her fingernail caught on something. Something crinkly. Confused, Edelgard picked up the statue and turned it over for a better look. There was a tiny yellowing triangle sticking out of the statue, where the head joined with the rest of the body. Carefully, Edelgard shifted the head slightly to the side, widening the seam even further, allowing her to pull a stack of curling sheets of paper out. 

She read the first few lines and immediately averted her eyes.

This was the final Blaiddyd will. It felt like a strange invasion of privacy to be reading such a document.

Inked onto the last page was her mother’s signature. Edelgard let her fingers trace over the flowing curves. Even after remarrying, her mother never changed her signature- the oversized cursive ‘P’ carrying smoothly into an ‘A’ and then devolving into a series of little squiggles.

She let herself stare at it for a moment longer, and then turned away. This was the Blaiddyd will. And as much as Edelgard willed it, the other signature didn’t change.

  
  


* * *

  
  


Petra remained still for another day, and then another, and more still. 

Linhardt assured everyone that she was still stable, the antidote had worked well and she would be waking up soon, it was just a question of when. The Eagles took turns watching over her, sitting at her bedside and waiting patiently.

Dorothea sat there stiffly, day and day out, staring at the statue lying prone in the hospital bed. A statue that they hadn't wanted to steal, but ended up with all the same. Time passed by without Dorothea ever really passing through it. She simply existed in a strange stasis, waiting for the moment for Petra to return. The other Eagles came and went, rotating through some sort of unspoken schedule as Dorothea remained ever vigilant- a gargoyle watching over a tomb.

“I read in a paper that talking to an unconscious person can help them recover faster.” 

Dorothea turned to look at Ferdinand. Her neck protested the simple movement, cracking and popping loudly. His eyes were kind, warm- if Dorothea didn’t know him better she would’ve missed the lines of tension running across his neck. They were all stressed.

“Something about brain waves and hearing familiar voices,” Ferdinand continued, smiling- he was struggling to maintain a relaxed composure. Perfectly manicured fingernails digging into his palms as he clenched and unclenched his fists. “I’m going to get a cup of coffee. And maybe make a trip to the bathroom. Do you want anything?”

Dorothea shook her head. She knew what he was up to. He was giving her space to talk to Petra, even if she wasn’t actually present to hear it. That seemed foolish.

But Ferdinand left quickly. Footsteps echoing as he moved purposefully down the hall. 

Alone, Dorothea turned to face Petra again. Nothing much had changed in the days that Dorothea had been here. Petra slumbered on, peaceful, blissfully unaware of the tensions and stress that wound around the other Eagles, straining to the point of snapping.

Talking to an unconscious person huh? 

Dorothea liked to think of herself as a pretty smooth talker- that was what she did for a living afterall. But she had never talked to someone who couldn’t respond before. There was a first for everything, she surmised.

What would she talk about though? There was no goal to attain here, no knowledge to steal, password to retrieve, or keycard to swipe. Dorothea felt at a complete loss. 

What did she usually talk about with Petra? 

“...Nice weather today…” Dorothea started. Her voice sounded strange in the room, cracking out of disuse. Her words echoed lamely in her ears. All this time and practice, and all she had to offer was ‘nice weather today’?

She licked her lips, they were dry- her whole mouth felt dry, throat closing in uncomfortably. “Ferdinand made my favourite soup a few days ago. The one that you really like too. I don’t think I’ve ever had a favourite soup before. But I remember the first time that you had it, your eyes just lit up. You had never tasted anything like it and you wanted seconds, and thirds. The other Eagles thought you were particularly hungry that day, but I knew. I knew.” 

Dorothea let out a humourless laugh. She felt foolish. She felt foolish then and she certainly felt foolish now talking to the thin air. “I secretly let it slip to Ferdinand that it was  _ my _ favourite soup so that he would make it more often. All so I could see your eyes just sparkle over the dinner table. Ferdinand would make it whenever I would feel down, thinking that it would cheer me up, but really just watching you dig into the soup was enough to lift my spirits.”

Even back then, Dorothea could never come outright and say what she really meant, say what she really wanted to- everything hidden behind a layer of ulterior motives, cryptic words, and carefully composed expressions. She hid behind honeyed words and unwavering confidence, running from the thoughts,  _ the emotions _ that scared her.

It felt strange to sit here, talking to essentially herself- giving voice to thoughts that had remained mute, trapped inside her head for so long. Not running from them like she was used to.

Hesitantly, Dorothea reached out with a trembling hand and took Petra’s hand into hers. Petra’s hand was calloused, shaped by the years she had spent swinging nimbly from windows, free climbing the sides of buildings, and picking her way through countless locks. Petra felt warm. Petra felt alive. 

That feeling nearly made Dorothea delirious with relief. It was one thing to see Petra laying here, but another thing to feel it. Dorothea steeled herself within that sensation, drawing strength from it in a way that she did not believe she deserved. 

Pressing forward with her words, Dorothea knew that if she stopped talking now she would never get these words out again. “I was always envious of how relaxed and open you were with everybody else. You never felt like you had to hide anything- so straightforward and free. You were always so generous, it didn’t matter what it was, you gave freely and willingly. But I never asked for this, Petra- I never wanted you to give your life for me like this. I’m not worthy of such a gift. I don’t deserve this.” 

Her throat felt tight, voice thick with emotion. She hated it, it felt like she was spiralling out of control. How long had it been since she truly let go? Let herself feel? Every part of her was screaming at her to take hold of herself, rein everything back in. All these years of careful practice and training to be who she was, to do what she did, just falling away like leaves on a tree. 

“You should have never been there. You should have never been there with me, Petra. I should have never given you reason to come with me. I should have never let you come with me. Dorothea’s voice cracked, emotions were pouring out of her, tumbling forth from her lips, spilling from her eyes. She buried her face in her hands, pressing the back of Petra’s hand up against her eyes. “I should have never let things bother me so much, I should have been better. I was too weak. I was too broken. You paid the price for my failures. You never should have been there. I was foolish.”

Dorothea sobbed openly, it was a relief- like a dam that had finally broken and now everything was cascading out of her like a tidal wave, sweeping her off of her feet. “I’m sorry that I was too weak. I failed you Petra, I failed the group. I should have never let you get close enough to fall in love with me, to love me. It’s my fault that you’re lying here. This should have been me instead.” 

A well of fear rose up in Dorothea. A new well that she had never really explored. She was ready for a lot of things and scared of a lot of other things as well. The fear that she would eventually be abandoned on the streets again with no place to go because of who she was, broken, a liar so used to falsehoods that she didn't know what was real anymore. Someone incapable of love. These fears and thoughts always lingered on her skin like a thin sheen of sweat, appearing when she felt most insecure. It was an old fear that had haunted her even when she was just a little girl. 

This well ran deep. 

How long had she been digging this well, scrabbling at the earth with broken hands?

The fear of-

-something shifted underneath her hands, and then somebody was weakly stroking her hair. The movement was slow, stiff, and Dorothea didn’t dare look up.    
  


“You were...never having... the blame... Dorothea.” 

Dorothea’s head shot up, she dropped Petra’s hand like it had just burned her. Petra smiled up at her, her hand dangling limply over the edge of the bed. She was partially leaned over in the bed so that she could even reach Dorothea with her other hand.

Petra was awake.

_ Petra was awake. _

The sheer relief that Dorothea felt at first was overwhelming- the giddy sense of joy that Petra was awake and that was definitely good news because this would mean that she would be okay. And then there was the horrifying drop as reality came crashing down around her, breaking through the trancelike fugue that she had been living in for the last few days. It was a sudden rollercoaster of emotions that Dorothea hadn’t even realized she had gotten onto. 

The emotions that were coursing through her and this sudden realization sent Dorothea scrambling. Backpedalling.

Petra was awake.

How long had she been awake for? How much did Petra hear?

Horrified and panicked, Dorothea sounded a full retreat, nearly tripping on the chair that Ferdinand had left vacated in her scramble to leave the room.

She could hear Petra calling her name weakly after her.

Dorothea kept running.

* * *

  
  


“How are you feeling, Petra?” 

Petra looked up from where she had been staring at the door, startled. She had been lost in her thoughts, forgetting that there was someone else in the room with her.

“Tired.” Petra answered at last. Her eyes drifted from Edelgard’s concerned face to the door again. Her thoughts drifted with her eyes, replaying those last scenes in her head.

Dorothea crying.

Dorothea, eyes rimmed in red- her usually flawless get up wrinkled and streaked with tears.

That expression that Petra didn’t know how to read on her face as she turned around and fled, leaving Petra calling out for her as she ran. Petra was confused. A lot of things didn’t make sense to her. A lot of things that she didn’t understand. Why did Dorothea run? Why was she blaming herself? Why did she think that she was weak? Broken? 

Why?

Petra had a thousand and one questions and only a headache to answer for it.

“Everything looks good,” Linhardt finally grumbled, satisfied with Petra’s condition for the moment. “You’re going to stay here for a few days more though, just so we can be sure.” 

“I cannot be going home?” Petra asked, disappointed. Edelgard handed her a cup of water with a straw. The water was cool, soothing over some of the scratchiness Petra felt in her throat as she sipped slowly.

Linhardt shook his head firmly, “I don’t want to take any risks. I’ve arranged for a few more tests to be performed just in case. I don’t know where Kronya gets her poisons but we were fortunate that this wasn’t one of those quick and painless ones.”

“Oh! I am remembering!” Petra moved to swing her legs out of the bed but Edelgard stopped her with a stern look and a hand on Petra’s knee. 

“Please, just tell me what you need, Petra. I’ll go get it for you.” Edelgard frowned at her and helped tucked her legs back under the blanket. It was a very cozy blanket- definitely not standard hospital issue. But as comfortable as the Eagles tried to make her hospital room, it still made her miss her own bed terribly,  _ her home. _

“My jacket.” Petra pointed at the coat hanger by the door where the Eagles had hung her jacket. “I am having a recorder in my pocket. When Kronya was speaking to us, I was recording her with the recorder I am using for passcodes.” Petra drew a little rectangle in the air with her index fingers, giving Edelgard an idea of what she ought to be looking for. 

It took her a moment before she returned to Petra holding the slim black device about the size of a lighter. Petra turned it over a few times, checking it over for any signs of damage, wear and tear, or tampering. She had always been very careful with all of her equipment. The familiar motions brought a sense of calm to Petra’s harried mind. Her fingers itched to go over the rest of her equipment, anything to bring a sense of control and familiarity back. But that would have to wait, she would have to settle for ensuring her recorder was in proper working order.

Satisfied, Petra pressed a hidden button on the side.

Kronya’s tinny voice played for a brief second before Petra stopped it. Her voice scratched at Petra in person, it was much worse in a recording. Shuddering, Petra handed the device back to Edelgard. “I was thinking that she could be saying something useful. I am not being so sure now.”

Edelgard held onto Petra’s hand for a moment longer, squeezing it gratefully. The Black Eagles leader looked visibly relieved. The signs of exhaustion and stress still ran deep but she looked a little bit lighter. “That’s okay, Petra. You did your best. Let us take care of you and the rest of these things okay?” 

Petra nodded. She opened her mouth again, about to say something else but the words caught in her throat, tripping over themselves and falling away. There were so many things that she wanted to ask but didn’t have the words for.

Her words never came out right.

Could these unfamiliar words even be considered her words?

Instead, Petra took another sip of water, pretending that was the course of action she intended to take all along.

Maybe she could talk to Dorothea about everything, try to clear things up when Dorothea came back to see her.

(Dorothea never came back.)

* * *

  
  


“Nice to see you again, Ashe.” Edelgard greeted the sharply dressed man politely. “You look well.” 

“You as well.” Ashe smiled as he took a seat across the table from her. Next to him, Gilbert also sat silently, staring down at his folded hands on the table. “I heard there were complications.”

“Nothing that can be traced back to us, and certainly nothing that can be traced back to you. Everything has been handled.” Edelgard replied smoothly. It had been a busy few days with everything that had happened, Hubert and Ferdinand had been busy with running cover ups and distancing the Black Eagles from the mess that had happened at Acheron’s place. 

The fact that they hadn’t cleaned out Acheron’s estate was working in their favour, helping cement the narrative that their heist had been interrupted by a rival who did not play by their rules. 

But they weren’t here to discuss the logistics of their clean up.

Without another word, Edelgard brought a small bundle wrapped in dark cloth up from the chair next to her and slid it carefully across the table to Ashe.

“Onto business then.” Ashe nodded as he took the bundle from her. Gilbert was immediately peering over his shoulder as Ashe unwrapped the bundle. Both men were so engrossed in carefully inspecting the lion-dog statue that they didn’t notice Edelgard bring a small file folder out from her purse and place it in front of her on the table as well.

“This is the statue we were looking for,” Ashe murmured as he turned the lion-dog over in his hands, trying to find some kind of hidden compartment.

“Now where is the will?” Gilbert’s hands fidgeted in mid air, where he looked like he was seconds away from grabbing the whole thing out of Ashe’s hands and looking for himself.

“It’s right here.” Edelgard tapped a perfectly manicured fingernail against the file-folder on the table. “I found it the other night when I was looking at the statue.”

Both of them looked up at her, surprised. 

Gilbert was first to recover, composing himself so that he was that gruff old man once more. “Have you looked at it?” His tone was accusatory, and Edelgard resisted the urge to roll her eyes at him.

“I have not.” Edelgard retorted and began pushing the folder over to Ashe. Gilbert reached a hand out for it and Edelgard deftly pulled it back, dodging the offending hand. “Mr. Gaspard here is the one who hired me. I only hand things off to him.” Edelgard regarded him coldly, and to his credit, he withered under her stare.

Ashe smiled, “I appreciate your professionalism.” He accepted the file folder gratefully.

They fell into an awkward silence as Ashe read over the documents. His expression brightened more and more the more that he read. It was several moments more of silence and Edelgard quite pointedly ignoring Gilbert before Ashe looked up again. 

“This, I believe is yours.” Ashe smiled at her warmly and slid the lion-dog statue back across the table to her. It made a hollow scraping sound against the wood that echoed loudly in Edelgard’s ears.

“What?” She asked, dumbfounded. Gilbert shared the same expression as she did though he kept silent. 

“The will states that the lion-dog statue goes to you.” Ashe spun a page of the will over to her, finger pointing out one line in particular.

_ “To my daughter, Edelgard, the lion-dog statue. May she watch over you always.”  _

The rest of the will blurred before Edelgard’s eyes. It felt so strange to hear one last thing from her mother. Her death had been so long ago and been so sudden and Edelgard so young that Edelgard never really thought she would hear from her mother again in any real form. These words sat heavy in her heart.

“Edelgard?” Ashe’s voice sounded so distant in her ears, and Edelgard had to blink back the tears that were rapidly threatening to fall.

“Thank you, Ashe.” Edelgard wrapped the statue back up in the cloth and stood up abruptly. “I’ll have Hubert contact you about the rest of our arrangement. I believe the ‘Man on a Horse’ painting was what we decided on.” A deep breath was all it took for her to regain her composure.

“Of course.” Ashe nodded. “Thank you for all your help. It was a pleasure doing business with you.” 

“Gilbert, you owe Annette at least an explanation…” Edelgard left the rest of her threat unsaid, hanging heavily over his head. Then Edelgard left, turning sharply on her heel as she exited with the statue.

Edelgard had come into this meeting hoping to leave this heist behind. And in a sense she did. She just didn’t expect to have a piece follow her home, sitting heavily in her heart.

* * *

  
  


Byleth’s phone vibrated. She could hear it buzz noisily.

Pausing in the middle of her workout routine, Byleth reached for her phone on her desk. There were no notifications.

The buzzing continued, loudly vibrating against the wooden floor. Someone was sending her quite a few messages in a row.

_ Her other phone. _

Hastily, Byleth scrambled to get to the phone, stashed in her duffel bag in the far corner under her bed. 

_ // A: I have some time off! :D _

_ // A: Are you still in Derdriu? _

_ // A: Hello?  _

_ // A: Hellllooooooo :( _

_ // A: :(((((((((((((((((((( _

Impatient as always. Byleth sighed and tapped out her response on the old phone. The plastic creaked and groaned in protest under her fingertips.

_ // B: I’m in Arianrhod. _

_ // A: Perfect! I am nearby! I will be there by tomorrow! There is a delightful little cafe that I miss dearly. They make a delightful saghert and cream! I am drooling thinking about it :D _

_ // B: Okay. Send me the address and when you want to meet. _

Saghert and cream. Edelgard liked that dessert. Maybe she should bring Edelgard there some time? Would Edelgard have already been there before? 

_ // A: I will warn you though, you are buying me lunch  _

_ // A: (but also I don’t have a lot of information :/ )  _

_ // A:I tried reaching out to my old sources trying to track down the point of intel but it seems that the point of intel has disappeared. I’m still working on it. :) _

_ // B: …  _

Did they disappear because they somehow found out that Byleth was digging into this again? Or did they disappear because Kronya knew what they knew and made them disappear? 

_ // A: Fear not though! I will tell you all that I know and answer all of your questions to the best of my ability <3 _

_ // B: I will buy you a single drink from this cafe, that's it. _

_ // A: Break my heart, why don’t you </3 but fine fine fine. I can live with that.  _

_ // A: How are you holding up? I’m sorry that I had to leave you like that last time. _

_ // B: Fine. _

_ // A: You found someone to talk to that night then huh? _

_ // B: Yes. I met some people. I travel and work with them now. I’m part of their group. They’re a good bunch. A little strange, but all very good eggs. I like being with them. It's very good. Comforting. _

_ // A: I’m glad. Sounds like you might have found yourself a nice little family there. _

Byleth paused, thinking those last words over. They rolled around in her head, edges rough- the thought was jarring.

_ Family? _

There was an idea she hadn’t thought about in a very long time. 

She hadn’t really had one, a proper one, in a very long time. Sure, she had Flayn and Seteth for a while, but there was some kind of distance between them and her. Byleth didn’t want to get in the way of their family relationship but she was also mentally at a point in her life then where she would have torn herself to pieces rather than consider any more people as family. 

Flayn and Seteth were family.

Then there was also the family that she had left behind all those years ago. They were still her family too. They were still alive- perhaps, she hadn’t heard from them in a while. Hopefully their living status hadn’t changed in this last little while. They were still her family, despite all this time that she had spent away from them, a great distance away.

They were still her family. 

And now...

Byleth thought about all the time she had spent with Black Eagles, all the different personalities, all the antics and trouble that came with it. It had been really good for Byleth to be with the Eagles. She got to use her strange skillset and help out- what more could she ask for? 

And most of all, they genuinely cared about her well-being. 

And! And she had Edelgard! 

Edelgard made her feel things that she didn’t think she could feel. New and exciting things that she would have never been able to experience on her own. Edelgard was patient, kind, and gentle with her- especially when Byleth felt so out of depth navigating a relationship like the one that they had while there was still so much that was going on.

Byleth had feelings for Edelgard. 

_ Strong feelings! _

_ Good feelings. _

She felt comfortable here. Byleth liked it here. The more that she mulled these thoughts over, the smoother the edges got, until it was finally a polished stone at her feet. 

Byleth picked up the polished stone, gleaming in the sun of her mind’s eye and tucked it into her shirt pocket, just over top of her heart.

_ Family. _

She would engrave a little black eagle on this stone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What a chapter. 
> 
> Between this chapter and the next one I must have rewritten the whole thing about three times. I ended up shifting some scenes from the next chapter into this one once I realized that the next chapter would be something close to 10k (which isn't an issue, but I just felt like the scenes didn't have enough room to breathe?) 
> 
> Idk WHY but these last two chapters were a bit of a struggle as I really tried to nail down what exactly I wanted to do with Dorothea. (Also the reason why I had to do so many rewrites. I'm not 420% satisfied with this chapter but I know that if I keep staring at it I'm only going to try to keep rewriting it and honestly that's no bueno for the ol' brain.) I'm usually very fond of writing the big emotion but this one was a time.
> 
> I knew where it was going to go but it was a matter of how I wanted to get there and what I wanted to explore? (I was making revisions literally up to the minute I posted this chapter lmao) Thank you to the chaos squad for helping me out with figuring out what I wanted to do love y'all.
> 
> Anyway, heavy chapter, a little bit of lightness there at the end to help balance it out. I am tired now so I will go take a nap. 
> 
> Thank you for reading! As always, kudos and comments are much appreciated <3
> 
> Stay safe out there! :)


	18. Alois

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Byleth and 'A' finally meet up and have a chat.
> 
> It takes some scheming on Edelgard's part, but Dorothea and Petra also have a chat. 
> 
> No major TW of note I think? Please let me know if you find anything.

“Byleth! My girl!”

Byleth winced as she approached the little cafe table. The owner of the boisterous voice waved excitedly at her. It felt akin to approaching an excitable puppy who hadn’t seen her in a while. 

“Uncle Alois, please.” Byleth sighed, as she sat down across from the man at the table. The little round table was already covered in an assortment of different pastries and desserts. She gave the spread a cursory glance, “Shouldn’t we be more… low-key about these meetings?” 

“Nonsense! Why can’t an uncle see his niece for a little family get together?” Alois grinned broadly at her. 

He pushed a plate across the table towards her. Byleth immediately recognized it as saghert and cream.

“This little cafe is famous for this dish! You simply must try it!” Alois sat there expectantly, nodding at the dish until she picked up the spoon and cut a little corner off with the edge of the spoon. 

The little bite was very tasty. The pastry was still hot and fresh, melting the soft cream on top while the blackberries cut through all of that with just the right amount of tartness. Maybe she should bring Edelgard here.

“Well?” Alois was still watching her, eyes wide and practically fidgeting out of his seat with his impatience and excitement.

“It is very good.” Byleth finally said. She took a sip from the water glass in front of her. 

Alois did a little fist pump of triumph at her words. “I’m telling you, I know my food.”

“I hope this isn’t the only thing you’ll be telling me today.” Byleth helped herself to another spoonful of the dessert, while this wasn’t what she had in mind when Alois said they would be meeting for lunch, it was still quite tasty. 

“Of course not! I am a fount of knowledge, you may drink freely!” Alois chuckled- he was every bit as grandiose and raucous as she remembered him. Some things never seemed to change.

“Please never say that again.” Byleth sighed. Alois’ sayings definitely changed over time- they were only getting worse. 

“Well, my dear girl. I am an open book! Ask away!” 

“Oh. Right now?” Byleth hesitated, glancing around the little cafe with a careful eye. She thought that they would have lunch and then go off somewhere less public to discuss these matters. Having this conversation in a busy cafe seemed off putting.

“No place better, everyone here is busy- wrapped up in their own worlds. Just don’t start yelling things from the top of your lungs and it’ll all be fine.” Alois waved an unworried hand at her as he dug into another pastry. The powdered sugar on top of the pastry left a trail of white powder on his moustache. 

“Where did you get the information about that …  _ Fire King. _ ” Byleth shifted uneasily in her seat. Even with Alois’ assurances, she didn’t like this. 

“I have a number of anonymous sources. They provide me with intel. One of these sources gave me the intel on the Fl-” Alois hastily corrected himself at Byleth’s sharp look, “- _ Fire King _ . I passed that intel on to you and the rest is history.”

“It was very good intel.” Byleth murmured, more to herself than anyone else. There was a time and place, as well as some details about the security of the place. It was highly recommended that explosives be used because of how difficult it was to infiltrate the location, and the lack of windows and reinforced doors and thick walls meant holing up in a sniper’s nest was also an ineffective plan. The location was small enough that a few well placed powerful explosives sent the whole place up in a fiery inferno.

Byleth had even managed to sneak into the aftermath to poke at the dead body lying in the center of destruction. The corpse was blown to pieces by the sheer force of the explosion- not even the armour that it looked like they were in the middle of donning protected them.

She had left that scene with a grim sense of closure and a broken mask in one hand. The smell of burning flesh was seared into her mind a second time. 

Then she left that life behind all together.

“I know. I’ll keep looking into it. See if I can find my anonymous source.” Alois shrugged and took a sip of his coffee, washing down the many pastries that he had eaten in quick succession. 

“How did you communicate with them?” Byleth frowned. She hated revisiting this point in her life but she needed answers. There were just too many things that she didn’t understand. Too many things that she didn’t know.

“Dead drop.” Alois chuckled, as if the idea of such a tactic was genuinely amusing to him.”I’d get a text from a burner phone with a time and place. I’d get there and a little packet of intel would be waiting for me.”

“And you never saw who it was?” Dead drops could be effective, but also risky if you weren’t watching the drop to make sure the information didn’t fall into the wrong hands. That meant that whoever Alois’ source was, they had to have been around watching for Alois to actually make the pickup or eliminate somebody who intercepted the pickup.

“I tried my best to, but I never really saw who it was. I got there an hour early once, trying to scope out the location and catch the source, but I think I just made them mad. They lead me on a wild goose chase across the city for the new dead drop location.” Alois leaned back in his chair, brow furrowed as he thought.

“I know that look.” Byleth raised her eyebrows at him. He had some kind of a suspicion. “What is it?”

“I have a hunch- but give me some time to look into it. I’ve got no work lined up for the next little while.” Alois smiled at her and nodded confidently. “We can meet up for coffee and pastries again too!”

“Okay, Uncle Alois.” Byleth’s frown only deepened, staring hard at the man sitting across from her. She had never questioned Alois’ intel before but sometimes the intel just felt like it was too good to be true. Too on the nose, too detailed- it was kind of questionable where the intel was coming from. And for it to all be anonymous, that was kind of risky. 

It was like Alois could read her like an open book. And maybe he could, after knowing her for so long and having had a hand in raising her. “I know what you are thinking, Byleth. I have many regrets when I think of those times. Back then, when I was a younger and more bullheaded lad-” Byleth coughed, Alois hadn’t changed a bit really. Alois ignored her pointedly, “-I’d take the intel and run with it. I didn’t usually question it. If it was good information, it was good information. We often dealt with nasty and dangerous people and as long as we got the job done and saved some lives, I was okay with it.”

Alois sighed, rubbing his temples tiredly. He never looked more his age than he did in that moment, “I wanted to save lives and chase the life of adventure and glory that your dad had. But looking back on it now that I’m older, I wish I had looked into things more thoroughly. I’m going to do that now to the best of my abilities!”

Byleth kept her face carefully composed, nodding politely at Alois’ exuberant declaration. The life of adventure and glory- she had been sold on that once. It was why she donned the Ashen Demon so often. While her dad had never been much of one for glory, it was just something that came with what he did. Being the best mercenary in the business came with a lot of perks- he was hired for all kinds of different jobs, from guarding important people, to rescuing kidnapped hostages, venturing into neutral grounds where law enforcement didn’t venture. You named it, he probably had done it.

But for all the adventure and glory that Byleth had bought into, Jeralt had died by himself. Discarded, tossed to the side with some rubble covering him like he was trash.

There was no adventure and glory in that.

Byleth wanted a refund. 

Byleth wanted her father back.

* * *

  
  


Petra perked up when she heard the familiar sound of heels clacking sharply on the tiled floor of the hospital hallway. She expected the comforting sight of a familiar head of brown hair to show up in her doorway, all smiles and sparkling green eyes. But perhaps it was foolish to expect such. 

Her hopes were only crushed, landing in pieces on the tile floor, crushed beneath the sharp high heel that rounded the corner as Edelgard poked her head into the room.

Edelgard offered her a regretful smile, “Not who you were looking for?”

“No, I am appreciating you coming to see me,” Petra forced a smile and sat up a little bit straighter in the hospital bed. Even as she did so, Petra knew that it was a futile effort- her feeble attempts wouldn’t fool Edelgard’s insight which had seen through better liars.

“How are you feeling?” Thankfully, Edelgard let the topic drop as she sat in the chair next to Petra’s bed. The plastic chair legs scraped harshly against the tiled floor as Edelgard shifted in her seat.

Petra paused, thinking hard, mulling over the words that she could try to string together so that she could try to communicate what she felt at the moment, “...I am… I could be doing better.”

“Is it something physical that is ailing you?” Edelgard’s eyes were piercing, searching and finding something in Petra’s expression that wasn’t very well hidden at all. “Or is it something else? _Someone_ _else_?”

Petra sighed, Edelgard always knew when something was up with any one of the Black Eagles. “When Dorothea was being here last… she was crying. She was saying that she was being weak and broken.” Petra twisted the fabric of the blanket between her fingers as she spoke, “I am not understanding why she is saying this about herself. Is it something that I am doing?”

Edelgard took a deep breath, fixing Petra with a kind gaze. There was something else to it as well, something that Petra didn’t know how to read. “It’s complicated. Dorothea’s had a bit of a rough past. I’m not really at liberty to tell you everything- I don’t know all the details myself and I think that it would be better for Dorothea to tell you everything herself anyways.” Edelgard’s brows furrowed in a way that reminded Petra of her father, when he was deeply worried about something but still doing his best not to let it show. 

“I am thinking that I still do not understand, but thank you for telling me these things, ” Petra nodded slowly. Humans were complicated and difficult to understand. They were not like safes or locks, those were easy to understand for Petra. Years of practice meant that Petra could unlock the vault that human beings stored their prized material possessions in with a few deft flicks of her wrist. But to unlock the vault that human beings stored their prized thoughts in, Petra was at a complete loss.

Was that even something that Petra could ever unlock? Could anyone? 

How did other people do it?   
  


Edelgard studied Petra for a moment longer, eyes pausing over each of Petra’s facial features, concerned. “Did something happen? Outside of the incident leading to your extended hospital visit?” 

Perhaps Edelgard knew the secret?

Petra looked down at her hands, which were twisted tightly in the blanket. She knew what had happened. Something had happened that she hadn’t expected to. But what choice did Petra have at that moment? When she was so certain that those were going to be her last moments, how could she take those words with her to the grave without ever saying anything? 

Even Petra could tell Dorothea was looking for something. Something beyond diamonds and gold, something beyond priceless masterpieces and lost pieces of history. Petra had wanted to reassure Dorothea even with her last breath that maybe she could stop looking, if this was what she was looking for. Maybe it was foolishness to assume that this would be something that Dorothea wanted. 

While she knew less than Edelgard did in regards to Dorothea’s past, she did know that Dorothea had started out on the streets. Petra had also spent some time on the streets, she wasn’t nearly as young as Dorothea had been, but when she first came to Fodlan to ply her trade, it was difficult trying to get anywhere in a land that was full of unfriendly faces, ready to slip a knife between your ribs for being too slow on the hand off of stolen items.

That sense of paranoia that would follow you wherever you went, the anxiety and fear- it was not a life that Petra wished to ever return to. With the Black Eagles, she felt safe. She had a home, she had a life with them. They cared for her, and in return she cared for them. There wasn’t a door in the world that would ever cage the Black Eagles,  _ her Black Eagles _ , again.

“I am remembering…” Petra began slowly, still waging an internal debate over whether or not she should tell Edelgard such things, “... that I was telling Dorothea that I am loving her.” Petra couldn’t bring herself to look up at Edelgard. She didn’t know why exactly, but she kept her eyes fixed firmly on the sight of her hands twisted up in the blanket instead.

“Oh, Petra.” 

When Petra looked up, her vision was already beginning to blur with unshed tears. Edelgard was nothing more than a white blob dressed in black and red. “Was I being wrong? Should I have not been saying such things to Dorothea? Am I having blame for why Dorothea is not coming to visit me anymore?” 

“Petra.” Edelgard reached out and grabbed Petra’s hand, rubbing soothing circles over dip in Petra’s hand between her thumb and index finger. “I assure you that this is not your fault. Not even close. This is something that falls solely on Dorothea. There are things that she struggles with and needs to address herself. But it has nothing to do with you.” Edelgard pursed her lips, thinking hard again. “I wasn’t going to interfere, but I think that I might have a talk with Dorothea.”

“Please do not be doing so,” Petra grabbed at Edelgard’s hand as she wiped at her eyes with her free hand. “I do not want Dorothea to be feeling like I have been complaining, or talking behind her.”

“Petra, this is clearly bothering you.” Edelgard’s frown only deepened but she didn’t pull away from Petra’s hands. 

“I am needing to be talking to her first. Could you be bringing her with you next time you come to see me? Before I am leaving the hospital?” Petra looked at Edelgard, determined. This had to be sorted out before Petra returned back to the Black Eagles base, who knew how things would go when she and Dorothea would be under the same roof again. It was best to clear things up before that happened. 

“I can do that. Is there anything else that I can do for you?” Edelgard smoothed out her slacks with her other hand. She gave Petra’s hand a reassuring squeeze. 

Petra hesitated, wondering if it would be awfully inappropriate to request such a thing from the leader of the Black Eagles. Perhaps it would be, if she was faced with the same Edelgard that she had known several years ago, or even several months ago. But there was something different about this Edelgard now, not that Petra could ever put her finger on what was different about her.

Edelgard seemed to sense her hesitation though, “I won’t pressure you but if you need anything, I will be more than happy to see to it.”

“...Could I have a hug…?” Petra asked timidly, not able to meet Edelgard’s gaze again. 

It was a strange request, but she had been in the hospital for over a week now and everyone was treating her like she was made of glass, ready to shatter at any moment now. Usually with the Black Eagles, they were comfortable enough that she was not afraid to get physical with them. Oddly enough she found herself missing such simple things.

“...Of course.” Edelgard got up from the chair and stepped forward so that she was in Petra’s space at the side of the bed.

Petra leaned over automatically, letting go of Edelgard’s hand in favour of throwing both arms around Edelgard’s midsection in a tight hug which was promptly returned with adequate strength and pressure. It was nice, the hug. It made Petra feel more grounded, more herself, like she wasn’t some fragile thing about to shatter at any moment.. She hadn’t realized how much she missed it, how nice this felt, how normal it felt.

And despite Dorothea’s sudden change in behaviour, Petra found herself quite liking the change in Edelgard.

* * *

Byleth wandered down the hallway of the Black Eagles homebase, her socked feet shuffling across expensive marble. Briefly she wondered if she could slide across the entire length of the hallway in one go. 

At this hour of night, the Black Eagles were all safely nestled away in their rooms, and most rooms were dark already. Surprisingly, the light to the library was on, a warm glow escaping from the seal that was the heavy wooden door.

Curious, Byleth pressed her ear against the door. The polished surface was cool against her ear, the sounds muffled. Someone was talking. It was hard to hear but it definitely sounded feminine. The door pushed forward slightly on silent hinges and the voice suddenly washed over her like a bucket of freezing water.

If hearing Kronya’s voice the first time was like the whole world falling down on her, hearing her voice the second time was like being dragged through the broken rubble of her fallen world.

It felt like insects crawling all over her, setting her skin a flame with a thousand needle pricks. LIke somehow someone was taking nails to the very chalkboard of her soul.

Byleth was somehow more prepared to hear it but less prepared all the same. Perhaps she was caught off guard after having spoken to Alois so recently, to dredge up parts of her life that she had long buried in the past. Hearing that voice sent her spiralling alone, back to the darkness with a splintered hand. Hearing that voice sent her spiralling back to the destruction with a building collapsed over her broken body.

  
Gasping, Byleth backed away from the door and made a hasty retreat back to her room, sliding and slipping down the hallway until she was back in the darkness of her own room. 

* * *

By the time Edelgard finished her meeting with Hubert, it was already well into the night… well it would be wrong to call it night, it was more like morning at this point. 

She padded back down the hallway, slippered feet almost soundless as Hubert went the other direction- no doubt to stay up another few hours poring over the recording that Petra had given them. They had hoped to glean something useful from the recording, perhaps an ulterior motive, some hint that a grander plan was at play, but there was nothing to be learned. 

Only the fact that Kronya was still the sadistic and cruel killer that Edelgard had always known her as.

But that was nothing new. At least Petra had managed to frustrate her efforts with the lion-dog statue. Edelgard returned to her room, ready to begin the process of winding down for some rest when. It had been a long night and an even longer week. The stress of it all was beginning to take a toll on her.

Silently, she sat in front of the vanity mirror. Her makeup was removed, face washed, teeth brushed, and pajamas donned. Then came her hair. She sat there for what felt like an eternity, letting the soothing rhythm of her brush combing through strands of white hair lull her into almost a trance. She could almost feel the gentle touch of her mother’s hands tucking strands of hair behind her ears- but that had been well over a decade ago. 

Some ghosts would still linger it seemed.

The lion-dog now sat on her window sill, next to the pot of red carnations that Byleth had given her. The still wrapped-in-heavy-fabrics painting from the first heist that the Black Eagles had ever done with Byleth sat on the floor next to the window, propped up against the wall. A strange collection of her past, present, and future.

Edelgard was startled out of her thoughts by a loud thump that emanated from the room next door. Byleth’s room. Immediately her mind jumped to the worst-case scenario- Kronya. Kronya figuring out where the Black Eagles had taken roost, breaking in through the window to break the Eagles that Edelgard couldn’t shelter with her own wings.

No no no, she had to breathe. It wouldn’t do to jump to the worst possible scenario here. She had spent so long working on forgetting all about Kronya and moving past all her cruelties that she was now seeing Kronya in places that she couldn’t be. Knowing Byleth, she had probably fallen out of bed or something. Cautiously, Edelgard made her way into the hallway. Faint light filtered out from underneath the closed door of Bernadetta’s room, but aside from that, the hallway was completely cast in shadows.

“Byleth?” Edelgard spoke, voice just above a whisper. She didn’t want to wake Byleth if she was truly asleep but she was also concerned. 

There was another muted thump that sent Edelgard scrambling for the door handle and pushing her way into Byleth’s darkened room. Pale moonlight cast even longer shadows across Byleth’s room and Edelgard half expected Kronya to jump out at her from behind every darkened corner. 

“Byleth?” Edelgard asked softly again. She fumbled for her phone, the potent mixture of stress and exhaustion making her usually nimble movements, clumsy. There was a pause before the flashlight on her phone lit the entire room with a bright and harsh light, causing her to flinch away from it.

It took a moment before Edelgard’s eyes readjusted to the light in the room and then she could see Byleth sprawled in a tangled heap of blankets and sheets on the floor.

“Byleth, why are you on the floor? Are you alright? I heard some loud thumps from my room.” Edelgard almost laughed at the owlish expression on Byleth’s face as she blinked slowly in the harsh light.

Edelgard flicked off the dazzling glare of her phone’s flashlight and instead turned to turn on the lamp on the nightside table just above Byleth’s head. The warm glow was much easier on the eyes and Edelgard could properly take in the disheveled state of Byleth’s clothes, her pale face, and sweaty skin. Something was clearly bothering her.

“Felt wrong to be in the bed. I’m okay though, just elbowed the bedframe in the dark.” Byleth mumbled, burying her face into one of the many cushions around her, looking like a little kid who was embarrassed to tell you that they were afraid of the dark. 

“We can go get you a new one tomorrow if you’d like?” Kneeling gently at Byleth’s side, Edelgard brushed the strands of hair that were sticking to Byleth’s skin out of her face. Surreptitiously, Edelgard checked Byleth’s temperature with the back of her hand. Nope, Byleth was a little bit sweaty but not feverish. Which was good because Edelgard wasn’t looking forward to waking Linhardt up in the middle of the night.

“No. It just felt wrong that you weren’t there.” Byleth closed her eyes into Edelgard’s touch, nuzzling the palm of Edelgard’s hand with her cheek like an affectionate puppy. 

Edelgard blushed furiously, this wasn’t at all what she was expecting from Byleth. And of course Byleth could say it so straight-faced without any other qualms. She resisted the urge to pull her hand away but also to stroke a thumb across Byleth’s sweaty cheek.

“It’s a safe spot, place, you know? Like the rooftop on Derdriu. We don’t have a space like that here but I think that this was pretty close.” Byleth patted the leg of the bed. “Felt wrong to be using it when I didn’t need it.” 

“That doesn’t mean you have to sleep on the floor!” Edelgard sighed, exasperated. “But that is very sweet of you,” she added as an afterthought, turning away from Byleth’s smiling eyes.

“The floor is okay.” 

“You could always sleep in my bed.” The words were out of her mouth before Edelgard had any real realization of what she was saying. She immediately regretted it though, clapping both her hands over her mouth, “I’m sorry, that was very forward of me. There’s no pressure to do anything you don’t want to do… which is sleep... in a bed... next to each other..” Edelgard mumbled against her hands, trailing off as she realized that she was rambling aimlessly now. For some reason all of her composure and usual elegance went right out the window, making her feel like a foolish teenager when it came to Byleth.

Not that she really understood what it meant to be like a foolish teenager- those years had long been stolen from her. But Edelgard could imagine.

Thoroughly embarrassed now, Edelgard shifted her hands up so that she was covering her entire face now, not just her mouth. “You can ignore everything that I just said.”

Calloused fingers gently pried Edelgard’s hands away from her face. Byleth’s smiling face beamed gently down at her. “Not tonight? If it’s okay, could we sleep up here tonight?”   
  


Whatever embarrassment Edelgard felt was immediately driven off by a battalion of concern, her mind making the connections immediately. The too-tall bed still piled high with sheets and pillows. The way that Byleth had designated it to be their new ‘rooftop safe spot’ and slept on the floor instead. 

  
“Of course,” Edelgard whispered, feeling a wave of warmth and fondness wash over her.. 

Byleth clambered up onto the mountain of mattresses and pillows on the bed, dragging the blankets that she was wrapped up in with her. Edelgard followed her, gathering up some of the other pillows and cushions that Byleth left behind and tossing them onto the bed after Byleth.

“Oof,” Byleth laughed, as a pillow caught her in the face and Edelgard couldn’t help but smile at the sound. Things had been so dour as of late, it was a welcome change of pace to even have this small moment in the darker context of things. 

It took them a moment to settle into a comfortable position. Byleth up against the window, completely swathed in coziness and Edelgard pressed up against her. Edelgard ignored the feeling of Byleth’s sweaty skin against her. It wasn’t that Byleth was sweating because of the heat but rather it was a cold sweat.

“You- pftttth-” Edelgard paused to blow a strand of Byleth’s hair away from her mouth, “-doing okay?”

“Better now.” Byleth murmured. “I didn’t mean to, but I overheard you in the library.” 

Edelgard inhaled sharply, there was a reason that she and Hubert were poring over the recordings so late at night by themselves in the library. “How much did you hear?”

“I don’t know. I just heard Kronya’s voice and I was right there again.” Byleth’s voice sounded distant, her eyes glazed over, head far away in the past.

“Byleth? It’s okay. Kronya’s not here. You are right here. You are not there.” Edelgard gently turned Byleth’s head so that Byleth was looking at her instead of the ceiling. The way that the pale moonlight trickled past Byleth’s face, casting it into shadows as her expression remained unsettled. 

“I saw my uncle again today.” 

“Oh.” Edelgard was not expecting those words to come out of Byleth’s mouth. She wasn’t even really aware that Byleth had an uncle, she had only ever heard Byleth mention her late father that one time. “Uhm… how did that go?”

“It was strange.” Byleth admitted. “I haven’t seen him in a long time. He’s different from what I remember. But still the same.”

“I think that’s what they call growth,” Edelgard teased gently. “Do you mind me asking what you talked about?”

“We did some catching up,” Byleth replied nonchalantly, “He’s helping me look into my father’s death.” 

“I see.” Edelgard frowned. It seemed like this was a conversation full of surprises, “And how is that going?”

Byleth shrugged, a bit of an awkward gesture when they were both lying down. “He’s going to reach out to some of his old contacts and see what he can find. Some of his intel sources have gone dark over the years.”

“Is there something that I can help with?” Byleth had said no last time but maybe-

“No, no. I’m going to let my uncle ask around first and then we can go from there. Besides, I think that you have a lot on your plate right now with Dorothea and Petra as it stands. I don’t think you need something else to worry about.”

“If you’re sure…” Edelgard hesitated, torn between pushing and letting the topic rest.

Byleth nodded, noticeably more at ease. “Yeah. Having you here with me right now is all that I need right now.” 

The conversation lulled to an easy silence. It was comfortable, Edelgard laid there, soaking up Byleth’s presence. The warmth of her body, the beat of her heart, the rise and fall of her chest as she breathed. Edelgard had never thought that she would find a place where she could feel so quiet, so calm- the raging storms within her lulled to a gentle rain.

But even so, Edelgard couldn’t help but let her thoughts drift to a different storm- not one of her own making, but one that was happening a few doors down. She thought about Petra’s request, how upset and hurt Petra had been back at the hospital. She thought about how Dorothea felt more like a living statue than anything else, drifting aimlessly about her room. 

She hadn’t left in a few days really. Edelgard couldn’t recall the last time that she had seen Dorothea outside of her room in the last little while. The other Eagles left her trays of food and drink outside her door which largely went untouched. But Edelgard knew that she had to be sneaking out of her room at night to make a trip to the very well stocked wine cellar that they kept downstairs. Dorothea’s favourite vintages were missing by the crate.

She had to get Petra and Dorothea to talk to each other. 

The more that Edelgard stared at Byleth’s adorable expression as she struggled to stay awake, the more pieces of an unorthodox idea fell into place.

… Dorothea might hate her for this afterwards, but Edelgard had an idea.

* * *

“Dorothea!” 

Dorothea rolled over in her bed to stare at the thick wooden door that separated her and whatever- whoever- the offending noise was. How much time had passed? Not that it mattered. Time was relative. Her days in her room were marked only by the regular appearance of meals at her door. Not that she really ate anything on the plate. Even Ferdinand’s fine cooking seemed to taste bland. 

Usually her room was brightly lit, windows thrown wide open to let the sunlight and fresh air in. The whimsical, almost airy atmosphere of the pale walls decorated tastefully with fine works of art now felt like a tomb- the air stale and musty, untouched by sunlight for so long with the drapes pulled closed. Dorothea laid still in her bed in the middle of it all- an empress buried with her finery.

While she was relieved that Petra seemed to be doing well (Bernie left her regular updates along with her meals), there was a sense of crushing reality that came with this news. Before, whether or not Petra would live to see another day was all that Dorothea had on her mind. The weight of Petra’s life pressed against her ribcage like a boulder on her chest. Now- now that Petra was stable, awake, alive, Dorothea found the weight of Petra’s last words, both her confession and her absolvement of Dorothea’s guilt that she had felt for putting Petra in such a position, pressing down on her like a mountain. 

She wasn’t capable, she wasn’t able to accept those words, to move this mountain.

“Dorothea!” Caspar yelled again. 

He sounded unusually agitated, urgent, Dorothea noted offhandedly as she rolled back over to stare at a stone bust of a powerful woman on a matching marble plinth, adorned in nothing but an ornate headdress, white-grey tresses woven into it so intricately that it would be difficult to separate if she were real. Dorothea had loved this bust from the moment that she had laid her eyes on it. The power of her posture, the confidence of her nudity, the freedom of her gaze- this bust was everything that Dorothea tried to embody, wanted to be. Dorothea kept the bust in plain sight for that very reason.

But now, the bust’s stony gaze felt like it was mocking her. 

“Dorothea, I hope you’re dressed because we’re coming in!” There was a click as the door finally opened. 

Caspar grinned brightly at her, still kneeling on the ground. A set of lockpicks were still in his hand, implicating him as the one who had opened her locked door. Ferdinand also peered into the room, one of his fine silk handkerchiefs pressed up against his mouth and nose. He squinted at her, eyes watering blearily.

Then the smell hit her. 

Dorothea sat up immediately. It smelled terrible. Like someone had been trying to cook but instead of working with real food, they had replaced all their ingredients with a child’s plastic food toys. The smell was acrid, bitter, burning- even Dorothea’s poison resistance did nothing for this utterly hellish smell.

“What-” Dorothea coughed, “-is happening?” She tossed her blanket to the side and climbed out of bed. Unfortunately, she was still wearing the clothes that she had been wearing several days ago, never finding the energy to change out of them. Fortunately, she was still wearing the clothes that she had been wearing several days ago instead of sleeping in the nude like she usually did. At least her outfits, while they might be impractical, were always comfortable. 

“Caspar tried to make breakfast.” Ferdinand mumbled, he looked like he was going to throw up.

Dorothea couldn’t imagine what his very sensitive olfactory senses were experiencing if this was what she was smelling. “Why in the name of the goddess did you try to do that?” Hastily, she rubbed at her face and rushed to her vanity. 

A small part of her reminded her that she had been locked away in her room for the last few days, consumed by guilt and self-doubt and shame. All the Black Eagles knew that she hadn’t been taking care of herself. So why was she trying to make it look like everything was normal right now?

“It’ll take a while to get everything aired out,” Ferdinand informed her, voice muffled. “Edelgard bought breakfast and she’s set up a little spread somewhere. We’re heading out now. If you want something to drink, I can let Edelgard know."

He didn’t give her an option, Dorothea noted. There was no asking if she wanted to come with, no query. Interesting. Briefly she entertained the idea of refusing him, but there was a thick cloud of smoke wafting in after Caspar and that was incredibly off putting no matter how terrible she felt. “I could die for a mimosa right now.” Dorothea chittered, laughing too loudly.

She missed the concerned look that Caspar and Ferdinand shared behind her back. 

“I’ll go get the car!” Caspar volunteered and hurried off. 

Ferdinand lingered in the doorway, handkerchief still pressed tightly to his face. Dorothea chose to ignore him.

Some semblance of normalcy would be good for her, she chided herself as she cleaned herself up with a few wipes, some moisturizer and a light layer of makeup. Nothing dramatic. Nothing was wrong. 

“Alright Ferdie, dearest. Let’s head out.” Dorothea tossed her hair over her shoulder and strode out the door. The look that Ferdinand gave her made her normalcy waver but Dorothea held on and kept walking.

* * *

Wherever Dorothea had originally thought Edelgard had been waiting for them with mimosas, it definitely was not here. Not only were there no mimosas, but Dorothea found herself in Petra’s hospital room. Alone. With Petra.

Ferdinand and Caspar had been in on it from the beginning, Dorothea supposed, thinking back on the strange way the two of them had been acting. Edelgard too- given that she had been waiting in front of the hospital when Caspar pulled up. He had taken a winding and twisting route to the hospital so that Dorothea wouldn’t realize where they were headed until it was too late.

Edelgard pinned Dorothea’s arms to her sides and frogmarched her into Petra’s room. The look that Edelgard gave Dorothea as they passed by several nurses and patients dared Dorothea to try something. Maybe Dorothea would have if she was the confident and daring woman that she thought herself to be. Current Dorothea felt so...tired.

Now sitting here, in this uncomfortable plastic chair that Dorothea had been so well acquainted with over the last little while once again, Dorothea wanted nothing more than to run away, for the second time in this room.

Maybe she still could.

Petra watched her like she was a skittish animal. There was no malice in her gaze, just concern and hurt. 

Dorothea had done that to her, fleeing from her like she was something vile when the only vile thing that 

Dorothea wished that Petra would look at anywhere else but at her. Dorothea wished she could sink into the floor and vanish.

“Dorothea.” 

“Hmm?” Dorothea blinked, eyes focusing on Petra again. Petra, who was still observing her from the bed. 

“You are avoiding me?” The way that Petra’s voice picked up at the end indicated that this was a question but Dorothea felt it like it was a statement of fact. It was true. Dorothea had been avoiding coming to see Petra, staying locked up in her room for days instead. Dorothea felt this statement like it was an accusation even though she knew, after so many years of studying human behaviours and expressions and speech, that this was not an accusation.

“I have been busy.” Dorothea lied. It was pitiful. How many times had she lied to other people? How many times had she said worse things, more untrue things, with much more truth written on her face.

“I am understanding.” Petra nodded slowly in such a manner that Dorothea knew that Petra knew. 

After all, Petra had been the one to witness Dorothea’s little break down at her bedside. Perhaps Petra had more understanding than anyone else. 

“Is it because of something that I was saying?” Petra asked softly. In that moment, she sounded so small and so vulnerable that Dorothea had to clench her hands around the hard plastic arms of the chair to prevent herself from reaching out for Petra.

“Yes- I mean no. It’s not your fault. It’s my own. I should’ve never let you get close to me like this.” Dorothea rubbed her temples tiredly. Her words weren’t coming out right, tripping and stumbling on the red carpet, falling flat off of her tongue.

“You are not wanting me?” The hurt in Petra’s eyes flared, running deeper as she looked crestfallen. “You are not wanting to be… friends?” Petra struggled with the last words, torn between her choice of words. 

“That’s not it!” Dorothea cried out, voice cracking in frustration. She felt ridiculous and alone, weak now that even her most basic skill, her longest friend, had left her behind- just silent words on a page written in a language that nobody knew how to read.

“Then please be explaining this to me!” Petra responded in turn, matching Dorothea’s tone and frustration. Her fists twisted in the blanket, a motion that had been repeated countless times already. Pieces of the blanket were already starting to run a little ragged. “You are acting strangely and I am thinking that the only reason is because I told you that I am loving you.”

The words hung in the air between them, creating almost an impenetrable wall. They stared at each other for a moment, wide-eyed, emotions rolling off of each other in waves only to bounce off of the veil of words between them, unable to reach the other.

"You don't understand what it's like to love someone like me." Dorothea finally said, defeated.

She had long given up on love. How could something so wonderful break her so thoroughly? Dorothea smiled. It was watery, sliding off her face despite her best efforts to maintain her cheerful facade. How did she usually do it? Smiles came naturally to her. They usually slid on as easily as slipping into her favourite plush bathrobe. Try as she might though, this one refused to stay. 

"I am willing to be learning." Petra said softly. 

Petra was warm. Honest. Her eyes looked at Dorothea with such patience and understanding that it made every mask and costume and role that Dorothea had ever donned fall apart at the seams. Dorothea could see a glimmer of hope in the way that Petra looked at her. The glimmer called her name, beckoned her forth. She always loved beautiful and shiny things- this glimmer promised all of that and more. 

Dorothea reached up to run a gentle thumb over the marking under Petra's eye. Finally breaking through that veil, pushing the words away, hoping that perhaps she could convey to Petra through this small motion that she wasn’t worth it. She traced the gentle curve of Petra's cheek bones, drawing a map further away from that glimmer. Petra continued to look at her unwaveringly, affection pouring forth.

"I don't want you to." Dorothea said at last, pulling away from Petra. She turned away like her back could shield her heart. 

This glimmer promised her love. It looked a lot like fool's gold from where Dorothea stood.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another long chapter!
> 
> Heheh this is going up before I even finish my next chapter because writing [Fearlessly](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26647762) took up so much time :( 
> 
> But that's okay! I will be all caught up and the world will be right again. Only one more chapter of this aftermath and then we'll be off into the next heist. Originally this aftermath was only supposed to take up a chapter but then things kind of took off and I really wanted to give this the space that it needed to breathe. 
> 
> But I'm hardcapping this with the next chapter (next chapter might be long one lmaoooo). But I'm really enjoying writing Dorothea. She's so complex and interesting and ugh, such good fun to write. 
> 
> Anyway if you want to come screm about things you can find me on twitter at [bardigrade](https://twitter.com/bardigrade)
> 
> Thank you for reading! As always, comments and kudos are much appreciated! 
> 
> Stay safe and see you in two weeks! <3


	19. Manuela

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dorothea finally talks to someone. Four someones.
> 
> She gains a little clarity, gains a little understanding.
> 
> (Featuring my fave aro/ace bernie).

Edelgard watched as Petra slowly packed up all the gifts and belongings that had somehow accumulated in the hospital room during her brief stay. Her movements were slow, deliberate, and methodical. Everything that went into her duffel bag was organized neatly. Clothes and blankets were folded into tidy squares and tucked away. LIttle trinkets and other items were carefully layered between the soft fabrics. 

If it was anyone else, Edelgard might be in there with her, helping out. But Edelgard knew better. She could tell from the way that the tension in Petra’s shoulders began to ebb away as she packed that this was soothing for her. After being cooped up in bed for so long, being able to do this for herself was definitely the first step for Petra to return to some sense of normalcy.

There were footsteps at the end of the hallway accompanied by the rattle of something on rickety wheels that make Edelgard turn from watching Petra through the window of the hospital room. Jeritza smiles thinly at her as he slowly makes his way down the hall towards her. 

He was dressed in a plain white hospital gown that dwarfed his frame, making him seem far thinner and frailer than Edelgard remembered him from not even that long ago. His gait was awkward and he leaned a little bit on the metal stand with his IV drip that he wheeled along next to him. This was nothing like the smooth and silent stride that Edelgard knew so well.

Edelgard gestured at the row of plastic seats along the far wall behind her and Jeritza nodded gratefully. He sank down into the chairs with a groan, all of his joints seemed to protest the motion. 

“How are you doing?” Edelgard asked Jeritza even though her eyes never left Petra’s form- still packing things away.

“Not great,” Jeritza winced as he settled back into the seat, “But definitely better than coughing up blood every few minutes.” 

“I take it that the treatment that Mercedes and Annette have been researching is working?” Petra paused in the middle of the room, looking over a vase of flowers on the table. The sunflowers were wilting after all this time. She ran a finger over the drooping petals. Even from this distance Edelgard could see the slight quirk downwards of her lips.

“Much better than what Cornelia had been treating me with.” Jeritza spat. 

“You never got away like we had discussed.” Edelgard crossed her arms and finally gave Jeritza a sidelong glance.

Jeritza grimaced, looking very ashamed of himself. “I couldn’t. Not when Cornelia held my treatment in her hands still.”

“You should have told me this. I would have helped you instead of leaving you behind to fend for yourself.” Edelgard frowned at the man who averted his gaze. There was no way that she would have left Jeritza to the whims of Cornelia if she had known Cornelia had such power over him. 

“This was not your burden to carry.” Jeritza told her softly. “I got myself into this and I was responsible for getting myself out. You already had a lot on your plate, it would be unfair of me to add my issues to yours.” 

“You know I do not see it that way.” Edelgard let out a long sigh. It hurt her to even admit in her head that Jeritza was right. 

“I was able to leak the rest of the intel though.” Jeritza smiled at her, looking mildly pleased with himself. 

“Did you manage to find anything else?” That was still good news. Edelgard had worried about leaking all of her collected intel all at once with her departure. While that would tie up loose ends, that could also spook the likes of Cornelia and Kronya into changing their plans completely, making the intel useless and potentially dangerous.

“No. I never had the same level of clearance as you did. And since your departure everything has become a need-to-know basis. And I apparently never needed to know.” 

Edelgard nodded. She had expected as much even though she had hoped that Jeritza would be moved along to fill her spot for the brief time that he would remain behind. Not everything went as she hoped, clearly.

“Anyway, it seems like your friend is all done.” Jeritza grunted and stood up again. For a moment Edelgard thought that he was going to just topple back over into his seat but he managed to steady himself on the IV stand. “Thank you for all that you have done.” Jeritza bowed his head solemnly, “I never thought I would see Mercedes again.” 

“No, I should be the one to thank you.” Edelgard stood up as well, seeing Petra zip up the duffel bag and hoist it onto a shoulder.

“We can call it even then.” Jeritza called out over his shoulder as he ambled away. “Don’t be a stranger now. Arianrhod has excellent desserts. You can treat me to some once I get out of this place.”

“That can be arranged. You better listen to your sister!” Edelgard shot back after the man’s retreating form. She watched him round the corner and disappear into the depths of the hospital.

“A friend?” 

Edelgard turned to find Petra waiting for her in the doorway. The thief was carrying the vase of drooping sunflowers in her arms. 

“Yes, an old friend.” Edelgard smiled softly at Petra who returned the smile with her own trembling one. “Let’s go home, Petra.”

* * *

Dinner that night was a surprisingly quiet affair. Usually they would have some sort of celebration to celebrate a completed heist, even at their most tame, nothing quite compared to the awkward tension in the air. 

For starters, Petra and Dorothea sat on opposite ends of the table. There was no set seating arrangement  _ per se _ but everyone was definitely thrown off to arrive at the table to find Dorothea and Petra facing each other instead of next to each other- a chasm of four seats opening up between them.

Even with champagne and Ferdinand’s delicious cooking that he had spent all day cooking, the meal still felt like a serious affair. Caspar’s spill of the gravy into his champagne felt like an awkwardly unfortunate accident rather than a hilarious mishap.

Byleth met Edelgard’s gaze from over a rapidly dwindling pile of green beans and salmon. She made a face that Edelgard could only interpret as either the fish was off, or the room was off. Edelgard was more inclined to think it was the latter. 

The rest of the week went by equally as strangely. Meal times were no longer a group affair, instead people ate in disjointed groups at seemingly random intervals, participating in this strange dance around the Black Eagles homebase that nobody had actually signed up for. 

Edelgard watched from her favourite armchair as Dorothea slipped back down the hall, a tall glass of wine in her hand, slippered feet padding quietly away. 

Dorothea had become even more withdrawn since her last conversation with Petra in the hospital. Eyes focused on some other realm, mind in a time lost to everyone else. Edelgard had half a mind to chase down Dorothea and give her a stern talking to while the other half chided her and reminded her that maybe she should give Dorothea some space.

“Edelgard?” 

Byleth appeared before her, already dressed in a pair of sleep shorts and another fish patterned tank top. Rainbow trout, Edelgard recognized. She had seen enough of Byleth’s shirts and heard enough of Byleth’s fishing stories to recognize them on sight now. 

“Yes Byleth?” Edelgard asked, surprised to see her. Surreptitiously, Edelgard glanced at the golden clock that hung on the wall, a trophy from a past heist. It was awfully late. She had expected for Byleth to be in bed by now- well floor if past events had any bearing.

“I am ready for bed.” Byleth stated simply.

“Uhm, alright.” Edelgard replied blankly. What did Byleth want? Why was she coming to tell Edelgard this all of a sudden- did she want a kiss goodnight? They had never discussed this before. Edelgard’s mind went into overdrive, had she missed something? 

Byleth continued to stand there expectantly. “Are you coming?” Calloused fingers rubbed the hem of her tank top- that was a new gesture. “It felt rude to just get into your bed without you present.”

Oh.

_ Oh. _

Of course, she was coming to sleep in Edelgard’s room like Edelgard had offered. With a deep breath, Edelgard set aside her book and took Byleth’s hand. “Yes, let’s go to bed.”

Embarrassingly, Bearos was tucked into the sheets like a child would be and Edelgard rushed to the bed to move the bear before Byleth could see. Although the amused smile on Byleth’s face meant that she definitely saw the bear. 

“Do you want the left side or the right?” Edelgard gathered the bear into arms, mostly so that she didn’t have to look Byleth right in the eyes right now.

Byleth hummed thoughtfully. “Right side.” She said after a moment.

“Why did you have to think about that for so long?” Edelgard asked curiously as she set Bearos on the appropriate side of the bed. 

“Because I like sleeping on my right side but I still want to spoon you.” Byleth stated matter of factly and flopped on the right side of the bed.

Edelgard didn’t have a coherent response for that so she turned sharply to go get changed in the adjoining bathroom. How did Byleth say things like that so bluntly? By the time Edelgard had washed her face and changed into her own pajamas, Byleth was already curled under the covers and playfully booping Bearos in the nose.

“Hey stop that!” Edelgard laughed as she climbed under the covers as well. She moved Bearos to the other side of her, effectively putting the bear out of Byleth’s reach.

Byleth’s arms immediately looped around her waist and Edelgard found herself with a face full of teal hair. It was strange to be in such a position knowing that nothing was immediately troubling them- aside from the strange elephant in the building, but pleasant all the same.

Edelgard could get used to this.

Any thoughts that Edelgard had percolating in her head, worries, anxieties, troubles, they could be set aside for tonight. While she would still have to face With the now familiar scent and warmth of Byleth wrapping around her, Edelgard fell asleep.

* * *

Dorothea gazed out the window, down into the garden that Bernadetta was busy tending to. Dead plants were torn out by the roots and tossed into a neat pile, while the soil was carefully raked and fertilized with compost. It was too late in the year to be replanting new plants. Trees were beginning to bloom into a beautiful array of different colours.

Too bad everything looked grey from where Dorothea sat.

Over and over she replayed that last conversation she had with Petra in her head until the words all jumbled together like a record that had been played too many times- the grooves too worn down to produce words any more, just a tuneless drone in the back of her mind. How long had it been? Dorothea couldn’t tell any more. 

How had she let Petra get so close? And these feelings, these feelings that she had fooled herself into having. How many times had she donned this role, played this part, mimicked these feelings? How had she let herself be fooled by this game that she played to survive?

All of these things in her room, all of these pretty things that she had collected. She could see Petra in each one of them, like the fingerprints of the sculptor on the statue they breathed to life. The purples of Petra’s hair dappled among the flowers that a naked woman laid in, immortalized by masterful strokes of a paintbrush. The intricate braid that Petra always wore wove into the fine tapestry on the wall. The lithe form that Petra carried with such grace and elegance carved into the various statues around the room. Her well toned arms in this one, her chiseled abs in that one. The gentle look of patience that Petra always gave Dorothea when she couldn’t quite pick the lock right in the eyes of the portrait next to her vanity. 

Had Dorothea liked these masterpieces, these works of art, enough to steal them because they reminded her of Petra? Or did she have these feelings for Petra because of these pieces of art? 

The more that Dorothea thought about it, the less sense that it made. It was an endless spiral that Dorothea found herself drowning in. 

Dorothea stole beautiful things for herself because she liked them. Petra was breathtakingly beautiful, infinitely skilled. Quite honestly, the best thief in the business. 

And she stole Dorothea’s breath away.

That thought terrified her. 

Before she could spiral down into another wave of fear, there was a sharp knock on her door. 

Dorothea carefully extricated herself from the mess that was her heart and mind and soul. By the time she reached her room door, she was composed again. Her outfit and makeup might not be flawless, but her expression would give nothing away. The mess that she was left in a pile behind her on the bed.

She took a deep breath and opened the door.

Edelgard stood in the hallway. She was dressed impeccably, as usual. Well tailored slacks and a black button down with white stripes that had to have the sleeves rolled up because they were much too long for her. Dorothea gave Edelgard a knowing look, a smirk that Dorothea knew would bug Edelgard a little bit but Edelgard didn’t react to it, continuing to just  _ look _ at Dorothea.

“Can I come in?” Edelgard made no motion to peek around Dorothea into her room.

Dorothea quickly glanced over her shoulder and into her room. Even though she had spent so long cooped up in her room, she really had no recollection of the actual state of the room. Fortunately, it looked mostly tidy- lived in, but not messy.

“If you want to,” Dorothea sighed and let the other woman into the room. 

Edelgard stood in the middle of Dorothea’s room, not touching anything, looking oddly uncomfortable in a room that she had been in countless times before. 

“Welcome to my humble abode,” Dorothea gestured at the space dramatically before retreating to her bed. She didn’t know why but she felt like she needed some kind of additional covering at the moment. 

Stiffly, Edelgard turned to regard Dorothea. Her gaze held no malice but Dorothea recognized it as the same one that Edelgard often fixed on marks or other people the Black Eagles worked with. Edelgard was studying her, analyzing, calculating, trying to figure out what went on inside Dorothea’s head.

Two could play at that game.

Dorothea tossed her hair over her shoulder and gave Edelgard her winningest smile, one that had bent many a mind to her whims. 

“What are you doing, Dorothea?” Edelgard’s voice cuts through her like a scalpel. Edelgard was always to the point, honing down on her like a sniper would with their target.

“I was resting.” Dorothea replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. She folded her legs underneath her languidly, pretending that nothing was at all wrong. 

“You know exactly what I mean.” Edelgard retorted sharply, folding her arms across her chest.

“I really do not, Edie.” Dorothea smiled sweetly at Edelgard. If Edelgard was going to do this, then Dorothea was not going to just roll over and make things easy.

“The entire team can tell something is wrong, Dorothea.” Edelgard snapped, “It isn’t my business-”

“You are correct, this is none of your business.” Dorothea interrupted and drew herself up to her full height. Even from across the room, their presences clashed, making it feel like Dorothea was right up in Edelgard’s face again. 

“It is when it affects everyone else!” Edelgard hissed, jabbing a finger in her direction.

Dorothea felt it like a punch to the gut. “So that’s what this is all about then. I’m affecting  _ everyone else. _ ”

“You say that like you think that I don’t care about you.” Edelgard stated flatly. “Is that what you think, Dorothea? Is that what you think of me?”

The hint of betrayal and hurt behind Edelgard’s steely stare is enough to break whatever facade that Dorothea is trying to put on. 

“No.” Dorothea finally whispers, tearing her eyes away from Edelgard and looking down at the expensive dark purple bed sheets. Her hands automatically smoothed over the creases in the fabric, desperate to find something to do that wasn’t tearing herself apart.

Of all the Black Eagles, Edelgard had known Dorothea the longest. She had known from the beginning what she was getting herself- and by proxy, the Black Eagles, into when she recruited Dorothea into the group. Whatever issues that Dorothea had had never become such an issue for the rest of the group, until now.

“Talk to me, Dorothea. What is happening? Did Petra say something to you?” 

Dorothea looked up to find Edelgard already at the side of her bed. The bed dipped slightly as Edelgard sat on the edge of it, close enough that she could reach out for Dorothea if she wanted.

“Petra told me that she loves me.” The words felt like a curse tearing out of her throat. To hear those words leave her own lips felt poisonous and for all her resistances and tolerance, Dorothea felt helpless in the face of it all. 

“Do you not return those feelings?” 

“How can I!?” Dorothea exploded. Emotions flowed out of her like the destruction after a broken dam, a cascade of broken feelings that Dorothea didn’t know how to deal with. 

Edelgard gave her a strange look of confusion like Dorothea had grown two heads suddenly. “You are not making any sense. What do you mean how can you?”

Dorothea gaped at Edelgard for a moment. She had talked herself into a corner- a rookie mistake in front of an experienced thief. Edelgard would not let this go- Dorothea would not be able to talk herself out of this. There would be no turning back. “Edie... I am incapable of love.” Dorothea finally admitted. The sheets that she had just smoothed over twisted beneath her fingers. 

This was it. She said it. They would all leave her now. Who would want her now? Who would want someone like her who was so broken and incapable?

The soft peal of laughter that came out of Edelgard startled Dorothea. “Sorry, sorry. I didn’t mean to laugh at you. But that is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard come out of your mouth and I have heard you say some pretty ridiculous things.”

“I’m serious!” Dorothea huffed indignantly, pouting at Edelgard. She paused. “Wait, you’re not going to just leave me? You’re not going to kick me out of the Black Eagles?”

“No?” Edelgard asked, puzzled. “Did you expect me to kick you out because you are-” Edelgard made air quotes with her fingers. “-incapable of love.”

Dorothea blushed and looked away. Maybe she had been a little bit dramatic. “Yes, okay! It’s one of my worst nightmares. I never wanted anyone to find out because who would want someone who couldn’t love? I just am not capable of it. I’m just not meant to be in a relationship!”

“Okay, okay. I am serious too.” Edelgard held up a hand to stop Dorothea before she could ramble on any further. “I’m not sure why you would think that we would kick you out at all. That sounds like an entirely different issue. But also what do you mean you are incapable of love? Just because romantic love is not your thing, that doesn’t mean that you aren’t capable of love. There are many different forms of love, Dorothea. Do you think that the Eagles don’t love each other? Do you think that  _ Bernadetta _ isn’t capable of love?”

“What? No! I don’t think that! I didn’t say that!” Dorothea argued.

Edelgard raised her eyebrows at Dorothea. “It sure sounded like it.”

“I just don’t know what’s real anymore. When I work my magic-” Dorothea waggled her fingers at Edelgard in a vague mimicry of casting a spell, “-it's so easy to slip into the role, to pretend these feelings are real for that moment. It’s so easy to tell these lies. All those past relationships, I can’t tell if I was truly in love or if I was pretending.” Dorothea slowly curled her fingers inward into fists. Each joint worked against each other and by the time her nails dug into the center of her palm, the tension building in her fingers traveled up the tendons there to radiate as intense tightness in the back of her hand and wrist.

The more that Dorothea felt it in her hand the less she felt it in her chest. Maybe that was fake too. 

“Hold on there. I think these are two things you have to try to tackle on their own. If you lump them all under the ‘I am incapable of love’ umbrella, you’re going to spiral- like you are doing now.” Edelgard let out a long breath, thinking hard. “Some of these things aren’t something that any of us can fix for you, butI think you should go talk to Bernadetta.”

“I misspoke earlier! I didn’t mean to imply that Bernadetta isn’t capable of love okay?” Dorothea folded her arms across her chest. She didn’t want to talk to anyone about any of this. The mere fact that she was even here talking to Edelgard about it was a minor miracle,

Edelgard looked at her skeptically, “I know that. But I think it would help you to hear a completely different perspective anyway.” 

Dorothea looked away, unable to face the genuine affection and compassion in Edelgard’s eyes head on. For all that she claimed was fake, she could tell what she saw in Edelgard was very real. “I don’t want to burden everyone with this.”

“It's not a burden, Dorothea. The Black Eagles help and support each other. You are a Black Eagle.” Edelgard sighed and got up from the bed. “And we are not kicking you out. I won’t force you to do something you don’t want to. But I really think you should talk to some others.”

Dorothea watched as Edelgard made her way to the door. 

“My room door is open for you if you need anything.” With that, Edelgard was gone, leaving Dorothea’s room considerably chillier and clearer than when Edelgard entered.

Slowly, Dorothea turned to face the setting sun, its dwindling rays still warm against her skin. Bernadetta was still outside, working in the soil, clearing away the weeds and dead plants. Maybe some fresh air would do Dorothea some good.

* * *

The air was crisp outside. The sharp feeling of it rushing into Dorothea’s lungs was refreshing. 

Bernadetta’s head whipped around at the sound of Dorothea’s shoes against the well kept stepping stones that led from the house to the garden. The motion reminded Dorothea of a prey animal, constantly on alert for danger. Upon seeing Dorothea though, Bernadetta visibly relaxed, sitting back on her haunches as Dorothea approached her.

“How’s the flowers?” Dorothea joked as she settled into the grass next to Bernadetta, carefully folding her legs underneath her. 

Bernadetta gave Dorothea a wistful look, “They’ll be back soon. Perennials are fascinating like that. No matter how dead they look now, they’ll always come back.” It was astonishing how relaxed Bernadetta could be around people she was close to. Dorothea always felt grateful that such an honour could be bestowed on her.

Dorothea hummed noncommittally, watching as Bernadetta pulled up more weeds with a few deft, quick motions. They lapsed into silence- a comfortable one, accompanied only by the gentle rustle of the breeze through the leaves which were not yet ready to let go.

“What’s on your mind?” Bernadetta asked after a while. She clapped her gloved hands together to get rid of the remaining dirt and looked at Dorothea expectantly.

“Hmm? No, nothing.” Dorothea paused. The words came so naturally that she needed a moment to consider them. Bernadetta had always been so kind to her, open and honest, trusting- never pushing. The least Dorothea could do was give Bernadetta a little bit of that same trust. “No, that’s not true. How did you know something was on my mind?” Dorothea prided herself on being hard to read and Bernadetta always stumbled over reading people.

“Usually when we’re hanging out, you’re always talking about things. You were pretty quiet there. Uhm. Is everything alright?” Bernadetta ran a hand over a patch of grass beside her, quietly nervous. Typically, she didn’t like to pry into other people’s business, for her to do so now meant a lot to Dorothea. 

“I just have a lot of thoughts,” Dorothea didn’t know how to breach this topic. It felt awkward and strange, especially for Dorothea, who thrived in situations like this. 

“Oh? What about?” 

“You can’t laugh at me, okay?” Dorothea narrowed her eyes at Bernadetta until she nodded in agreement. “So I’ve been in a lot of relationships in the past. Mostly not great ones, a few good ones, and nothing ever worked out, nothing ever lasted. And I really thought my last one was it, you know?”

Bernadetta nodded again, indicating that Dorothea should go on.

“But that one, as wonderful as it was, fell apart too. And eventually after everything, I just thought that I just wasn’t....” Dorothea picked up a fallen leaf from the ground and twirled it in her fingers. Her next words came out in a rush, desperate to get them out before she froze up, “I thought it was my fault that nothing ever lasted. I thought that I had been grifting and pretending for so long that I just wasn’t capable of love. And who am I if I’m not capable of love? Who am I if I can’t love someone?”

“Oh, Dorothea.” Bernadetta gently took Dorothea’s free hand into her own. “You know that’s not true. Love comes in many different forms. Just because your romantic relationships didn’t work out, doesn’t mean you can’t love in general.”

“You know that sounds fake.” Dorothea chuckled lightly.

“I’m serious!” Bernadetta pouted indignantly, “I think that you are putting too much stock into romantic relationships. You exist outside of them. You can love outside of them. I’m not interested in any sort of romantic relationship but I still love you and all the other Black Eagles.” 

“Even Byleth?” Dorothea asked cheekily, smirking.

“B-Byleth is fine! But sometimes she just l-looks at you and it feels like...” Bernadetta glanced around them like she expected Byleth to suddenly pop out of the barren bushes at any moment, “... feels like she’s just looking into your soul.” 

Dorothea laughed despite herself. It felt good to laugh again, even if it was over such a strange little thing. “I know exactly what you mean.”

Bernadetta smiled shyly at Dorothea, visibly relieved. “I don’t know everything that you are struggling with. But I don’t think that being in a relationship or being in love with someone makes you or breaks you. I don’t feel like I lack anything if I’m not in a relationship. I-I think I felt worse when I was in one actually.” Seeing Dorothea nod slowly, she continued. “You are a person outside of a relationship, all relationships. M-My parents used to tell me that I would find my other half, like I was some incomplete person on my own but that’s not true.”

Dorothea frowned, feeling the tremble in Bernadetta’s fingers around her hand with the mention of her parents. While Dorothea didn’t know all the details- it wasn’t her place to ask, she did know that Bernadetta’s parents were absolutely horrible to her. 

But before Dorothea could interrupt her, Bernadetta pressed on, “I think we’re all just different colours. Like if you’re red, and you meet someone who’s blue, then when you’re together, you make purple. But before you were together, you were still red, you were still an entire colour. You weren’t like half of a colour looking for your other half to make a full red colour. You are more than who you love. You aren’t a relationship. You are you, Dorothea.”

There was a long pause, as Bernadetta just suddenly stopped talking, trying her hardest to gauge Dorothea’s reaction. Inside Dorothea’s head though, her mind reeled as Bernie’s words settled over her mind like a fresh coat of paint. The pieces, the colours- everything that she had just said made sense. Dorothea wasn’t sure if she was quite ready to act on such things yet but deep down, she knew that Bernadetta was right.

“Maybe I’m overstepping here, but I think that you’re one of the most loving people I know, Dorothea. Maybe you don’t know it because that’s not how you were taught what love was?” Bernadetta fumbled for a moment among one of the baskets containing various plant matter and equipment next to her and pulled out a little apple- fresh from one of the trees in the garden.

Dorothea stared at Bernadetta. When did the shy little artist that Dorothea had to coax out of her room to eat dinner with the rest of the group become someone so wise? It seemed that the Black Eagles were good for both of them. “You’ve grown, Bernie.” 

“You helped,” Bernadetta eeped, surprised by Dorothea’s sudden compliment. She was still unused to kind words being thrown her way and the attention being turned back around on her. 

“I think we helped each other.”

* * *

By the time that Dorothea and Bernadetta finally returned to the house, Dorothea was feeling much lighter but also fuller- a variety of freshly picked fruit and lighter conversation certainly made her feel a little more like herself again.

The sun had long set and Dorothea found herself wandering back to the kitchen after bidding the artist goodnight, not quite ready to return to the room that she had spent so long in but not quite ready to enter another’s room as well. To her surprise, Ferdinand was at the kitchen counter, carefully preparing a cup of coffee. 

“Dorothea,” He greeted her with a nod, eyes never leaving the scale which a glass coffee dripper was balanced on top of a familiar looking dark coloured mug. 

“I didn’t know you drank coffee, Ferdie.” Dorothea teased as she perched on the edge of a stool, resting her chin in her hands.

Ferdinand shot her a look of fond exasperation and relief. “You know very well that I do not drink such abominations.”

“Then I can only assume such a carefully made cup is for a certain tall and brooding hacker?” Dorothea raised an eyebrow at Ferdinand with a smirk. Nothing like teasing Ferdinand to make it feel like old times again. 

“You can assume all you like. You’re not going to get me to admit anything,” Ferdinand grumbled and returned his attention to the scale again. 

They lapsed into an easy silence, the steady drip of coffee into the mug below a soothing beat. Silence with Ferdinand always felt different from silence with other people. There was a mutual understanding between the two of them. Sometimes, moments like these were sacred- as fleeting as they were.

“Do you want some tea?” Ferdinand exhaled quietly.

Dorothea looked up at him, not expecting the question but nodding all the same. She half expected to sit there in silence until he finished making the coffee and left. 

Ferdinand busied himself with boiling more water and preparing a pot of tea, turning his back to her so he could rummage through the cupboards for the tea leaves he was looking for. 

Thinking of how Bernadetta had grown, Dorothea couldn’t help but reminisce over how Ferdinand had grown as well. The skinny young man with a flair for dramatics finally wiggling free of his father’s iron grip that Dorothea had first met and immediately was irritated by was so much more than that today. 

Both of them were who they were today because of the Black Eagles, and to some extent, because of each other. Dorothea could see some of her own habits in the way that Ferdinand would sometimes back off during a con- less was more had always Dorothea’s philosophy. She liked to leave marks hanging, wanting more as she pulled away, letting them chase after her. Ferdinand was more of the opposite, preferring to blindside marks and catch them off guard, never giving them a moment (or reason) to doubt him. Dorothea saw his influence in some of her cons, hunting down marks and stealing the show before they truly understood who she was.

She was so lost in her own thoughts that she didn’t even notice Ferdinand finishing brewing the cup of tea until he set it in front of her on a saucer with a soft clink. 

“Do you want to talk about it?” Ferdinand smiled warmly down at her. 

Dorothea rolled her eyes, getting the full force of Ferdinand’s charm and flattery to the face while he was being genuine was always strangely disconcerting. She stared at him for a long moment. Ferdinand was always so put together, no matter the scenario “How do you do it?” She brought the teacup to her nose and inhaled deeply. The scent of apples and spices filled her nose with a pleasant warmth.

Ferdinand looked startled for a moment but he quickly gathered himself with a smile, “Well, I let the water boil until the bubbles are about the siz-

“Not the tea!” Dorothea laughed, setting down the steaming teacup before she accidentally spilled the burning hot liquid all over herself. “I mean how do you know what’s real when you tell so many lies? We play with emotions so often, we fall in ‘love’ so often,” Dorothea put heavy air quotes around the word love, rolling her eyes at it. “How do you keep it all straight?” 

“Well I don’t keep it all straight.” He waggled his eyebrows playfully at Dorothea. 

“Ferdie!” Dorothea sighed in exasperation. This was such an old joke now.

“Okay, okay.” Ferdinand chewed his bottom lip thoughtfully, “I guess intention is just very important.”

“Intention…” Dorothea said slowly, letting each syllable roll off of her tongue like she could somehow figure it out by piecing together what each of the individual syllables meant. 

“Yeah. You say all these during a heist but do you mean any of it? Like remember that time you told that slimy Retzig that you liked the way his cologne smelled? Did you actually like that?”

Dorothea nearly gagged thinking about the awful smell of a grown man smelling like he had just taken a bath in cologne.

“You say things but really you intend something else and that’s a lie. But sometimes, you say things and you intend the same thing.” Ferdinand shrugged like this was the simplest thing in the world.

“Is it really that simple?” Dorothea asked him doubtfully. Now that sounded like a scam if she had ever heard one and she had heard many.

“It can be. Let’s say you were to tell any of the Eagles- oh I don’t know, that you loved them, would you really mean it?” Ferdinand held up a hand to stop her the second she opened her mouth, “Don’t answer me right away, just think about it for a moment.”

Dorothea’s jaw snapped shut with an audible click. She busied herself with She hated that Ferdinand knew her so well, that her words always moved faster than her brain. The yes was already right there on the tip of her tongue, an automatic reflex to say what other people wanted to hear. She swallowed that instinct down. 

If she were to tell the Eagles. Dorothea closed her eyes, thinking hard about the question. Bernadetta’s earlier words raced around in her head, spinning around each other and twining around each other like a vine on a trellis until it finally burst through the dense canopy above it and into the sunlight.“Yes. Yes, okay? But it just comes out wrong. It comes out too easy. It comes out like a lie. It feels like a lie.”

Ferdinand gave Dorothea a strange look of confusion, “The truth isn’t supposed to be difficult, Dorothea. Just because you for whatever reason, doubt the statement doesn’t mean that it isn’t true. What you say doesn’t matter. What matters is what you mean and if the other person understands what you mean.”

“What I mean and if the other person understands what I mean?” 

Ferdinand nodded earnestly, “I know you don’t put a lot of stock into words, given what we do. But just sometimes you don’t need those to convey your intentions. Look, no matter what we do, there will always be that little voice of doubt in the back of our minds. But you know what you want, you’re Dorothea Arnault. You tell that little voice off.” 

The clatter of a plate and cutlery in front of Dorothea brought her out of her thoughts again. When did Ferdinand make a plate of food?

“This is a lot and I know you haven’t been eating well.” Ferdinand gestured at the plate set out before her. “I made some of your favourite. I think having a full stomach helps when you’re trying to handle a full mind, and heart.” He added as an afterthought.

The generous helping of vegetable pasta salad on the plate set out before did look really appetizing. Before Dorothea could even say anything else, Ferdinand disappeared down the hallway with a flick of his bangs and the cup of coffee, headed towards Hubert’s room- just as she suspected. The scent of his shampoo mingled pleasantly with the freshly ground coffee.

It was astonishing how well she knew him and how well Ferdinand knew her.

Maybe he was right. Maybe it was his hair products.

* * *

In the still darkness of her own room, Dorothea let all the earlier conversations and thoughts wash over her like bright dyes on a sheet of untreated fabric. 

If she was really capable of love, and what she felt really was real then…

Dorothea loved Petra.

Perhaps of all the realizations that she came to today, none of them struck her as deeply as this one. It was like this freshly dyed cloth that had been draped over her very being was suddenly torn in to, letting her see the world clearly again but this time in vibrant colours. It wasn’t that she hadn’t been able to see the colours before but more that she had never stopped to appreciate them. 

There on the other side of the veil was a glimmer again, the same one that she had seen in Petra’s eyes. 

But was she brave enough to reach for it after everything that she had been through?

With fumbling hands, she pulled out her phone and dialed a number that she had dialled countless times before.

The phone barely rang twice before a hurried, breathless voice picked up on the other side.  _ “Dorothea? What’s wrong, honey? Where are you?” _

The familiar timbre of Manuela’s voice seemed to be her breaking point. How many times had Dorothea made this call and how many times had Manuela always picked up the phone? 

Whatever she said next was lost to Dorothea, the sounds of her sniffling too loud as tears spilled down her face. 

_ “-Dorothea! I’m coming to get you right now. Agh where are my keys?” _

Dorothea took a deep breath as her mind finally registered what Manuela was saying. “N-no! It’s okay! Please don’t come here.”

_ “You are crying! How can things be okay? I’m going to call that Edelgard and give her a piece of my mind.” _ Manuela growled. 

The sounds of someone rifling through a closet could be heard in the background. 

“This isn’t Edelgard’s fault!” Dorothea argued, rubbing the tears away from her face. “This is something else.”

_ “You better tell me what is happening or I am busting down Edelgard’s door as soon as I get there.”  _

“I-I fell in love, Manuela.”

_ “Oh. _ ” There was a pause.  _ “Well it’s about damn time you sorted things out for yourself.” _

The blunt way that Manuela said it was so unexpected that it made Dorothea laugh out loud. 

_ “I am serious! You have been moping for goddess knows how long now.”  _ Manuela huffed with fake irritation- Dorothea could hear the stress ebb from her voice.

“I have not been moping,” Dorothea mumbled, wiping the other side of her face with the sleeve of the expensive cardigan she was wearing. 

_ “So you just called to tell me the big news that you’re dating again?”  _

“For advice, actually. And I’m not dating again.”

_ “What advice do you need? If you’re not dating and you are in love, Dorothea, just go for it. Unless the other person is in a committed monogamous relationship of course, in that case, just move on.” _

“You know I can’t date. I don’t  _ do _ relationships anymore.” Dorothea’s voice broke down to a whisper. “I can’t go through that pain again. Being left behind, left alone again.”

_ “Dorothea, you’re not alone. You’re never alone. You have so many friends who care about you, you have me. You won’t be alone. I understand that your last relationship hurt you a great deal. But you can’t just give up on the next one before it even starts. That’s like you choked on some food once and then now you’re never going to eat food again because you’re afraid you might choke again.” _

“That’s absurd, Manuela.”

_ “I’m glad that you can see that you’re being absurd then.”  _

Dorothea let out a choked laugh, “You’re insufferable.” 

_ “Ah darling, there’s the Dorothea I know.” _ Manuela laughed. Her voice dropped to a much softer register.  _ “I know what happened with your past relationships and your mother. Just because your mother thought that the only way that she was going to be happy in life was -goddess forbid- being in a relationship with a man, doesn’t mean that you have to think that way too.” _

“Hang on, I don’t understand what you’re trying to tell me.” Dorothea rubbed her temples tiredly.

_ “Dorothea. I’m telling you to follow whatever your heart wants to do. Don’t overthink it and just live in the present. I know you haven’t used that coupon I gave you. Take the lucky person on a date. Eat whatever you want okay?”  _ There was a brief pause,  _ “Oh wait you can’t see me. Let me try that again. Eat whatever you want. Wink wink.” _

A full body, genuine kind of laugh bubbled out of Dorothea. It was the kind of laugh that just carried her, lifting all the weight off of her shoulders. 

_ “Be free, Dorothea. You have my blessing.” _

_ “-Ella, the movie is going to start soon, are you coming or not?”  _ A different feminine voice could be heard somewhere in the background.

_ “Judy, you know that you can pause the movie right?” _ Manuela shot back, there was some shuffling and then _ “Okay, Dorothea, honey. Are you going to be okay? I know this is a lot.”  _

_ “ _ No, no. I’ll be fine.” Dorothea waved her hand in the air despite being on the phone. “It sounds like you have a date night planned, I don’t want to interrupt your night any further.”

_ “You know that I’m here if you need anything.” _

“And I know that you sound happier now,”

_ “I am happier, honey. And I know you can be too if you let yourself.” _

* * *

It was nearly noon when Dorothea finally pulled herself out of bed. She felt sticky and disgusting after falling asleep on the covers last night, absolutely exhausted from everything. A long and hot shower and a change of clothes later, Dorothea was feeling infinitely better about everything. 

Okay, maybe not everything. But a few things, and that was a good sign. 

That was how Dorothea found herself pacing in front of Petra’s door. It was still closed, but Dorothea made no motion to knock yet. She wasn’t brave enough at the moment. 

Her heart was clear, a steady beat loud in her ears but her mind was a tangled mess. Several different threads of different thoughts wove around each other- not to form a beautiful tapestry but a hopeless knot at her feet that made her trip instead.

“Okay, Dorothea. You’ve got this. Just deep breaths and say what you need to say.” She told herself firmly.

A deep breath in. Hold it… three… four… then out.

Squaring her shoulders and drawing herself to her full height, Dorothea raised her hand to knock on the door but the insistent buzzing of her cell phone made her pause.

The moment shattered, even the tangled ball rolled down the hallway, just out of her reach. With a huff, Dorothea glanced at her phone.

_ Sylvain. _

What did he want?

It didn’t matter what he wanted. He was irrelevant to her right now. She sent the call straight to her voicemail and drew herself up again, looking for that mess of tightly wound thoughts.

Her phone buzzed again and she glared daggers at the device. Sylvain again.

Angrily, she answered it. “What do you want Sylvain?”

His next words made her heart drop.

_ “Oh thank goddess you picked up. Ingrid’s in big trouble. I think she’s being held hostage.” _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hehehe I ended up pushing one of the scenes from this chapter in to the next because it just flowed better. 
> 
> Some unresolved tension and issues but we are finally on to the next arc!
> 
> This will be a fun arc- I've had this next bit planned since I started writing this fic so I am quite excited to finally get to write it out. (I am a leeeeeetle bit behind in terms of where I want to be schedule wise but hopefully I will have this all sorted out by the end of the weekend.) 
> 
> Anyway, thank you for reading. As always, kudos and comments are much appreciated! You can come yell about things with me on twitter at bardigrade
> 
> (Happy Canadian Thanksgiving! Lol)
> 
> Stay safe out there! See you in two weeks <3


	20. Ingrid

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ingrid is in trouble, leaving the Black Eagles in a bit of a tricky spot as they try to figure out what to do next.
> 
> Ultimately, the decision falls to Dorothea- who has a few things to get off her chest first.
> 
> (Nobody expects the trouble that Ingrid is in.)

“Hang on Sylvain, you have to slow down, this isn’t making any sense.” 

The Black Eagles were gathered around in the common room, Sylvain’s stressed and slightly panicked voice playing over a speaker as Hubert typed furiously on his laptop. 

_“Okay, okay, Big Bird.”_

Edelgard rolled her eyes at this dumb codename that Sylvain had insisted on using. 

_“A few days ago, Ingrid got a call from her dad that there was an emergency back at the Galatea estate. She didn’t tell me too much but took a few days off with Dima, citing family business.”_

Edelgard pursed her lips, she had no business questioning other people’s family business. This didn’t sound particularly strange to her though.

_“Well, Ingrid only took a few days off, and should’ve been back yesterday. So I called to check in with her. And that’s why I’m worried.”_

“You couldn’t reach her?” Ferdinand asked without looking up, in the middle of pouring tea at the coffee table. Satisfied with the pour, he handed a cup to Linhardt.

_“No, I could. She said- and I quote, ‘that things were taking longer than she thought to sort out and that she would be back slapping the cuffs on those drug dealers in no time’.”_

“Interesting,” Edelgard murmured and accepted her own cup of tea from Ferdinand. The smell of the fine tea leaves did nothing to abate the headache that Sylvain was giving her.

_“No! Not interesting! Very wrong! Ingrid would never say ‘slapping the cuffs’. And the case we’re working on- well I can’t tell you that.”_ Sylvain laughed to himself awkwardly, _“But it’s definitely not drug related!”_

“This still doesn’t tell us why you think that Ingrid’s being held hostage.” 

_“Okay, maybe not hostage, but definitely against her will. Ingrid asked me how her cat, Glenn, was doing.”_

  
“I didn’t know Ingrid had a cat,” Edelgard turned to find a pleasantly refreshed, showered, immaculate Dorothea sipping what looked like tea from a champagne flute. 

_“She doesn’t. Also Glenn-”_

“Is the name of Felix’s brother who passed away at the same time as the Blaiddyds and Ashe’s older brother.” Hubert supplied helpfully, cutting Sylvain off as the screen on the far side of the room flickered to life. An overhead map over top of the blueprints of the Galatea Estate. It certainly was an expansive estate. If Ingrid really was being held there, they would have a hell of a time finding where she was located.

_“Also when we were younger, that was the code phrase we’d use when we wanted to leave an event and needed an excuse. One person would ask about their cat, and the other person who was in the know, would tell them that their cat was sick and needed treatment, and Glenn would immediately drive out and pick us up. I don’t think she said those things out of coincidence.”_

“But Ingrid is part of the Blue Lions Task Force- wouldn’t she be able to handle herself?” Caspar wondered out loud. He fired a few mock rounds from his finger guns at the speaker Sylvain’s voice was blaring from.

_“I don’t think she would use the code phrase if she didn’t have to.”_

“Okay, but why are you calling us? You’re the Blue Lions Task Force. Just go get her.” Linhardt yawned and stretched out more on the couch so that he was draped over Caspar’s lap. 

_“I tried going through the legal channels. But the guys upstairs won’t clear us to go get her. They don’t think there’s enough proof that she’s in trouble. She’s an adult, and a full fledged agent. She can make her own choices, be responsible for herself.”_

“What does your boss think about that?” Edelgard took a sip of her tea- it wasn’t like Dimitri to leave members of his team unaccounted for.

_“I think his bosses know that he would go running to try to help Ingrid, they’ve saddled him with a lot of extra bullshit and court duties.”_

“Bureaucracies.” Linhardt muttered under his breath. “Always making you jump through hoops.”

_“Tell me about it. Good thing I’m a master of shirking boring paperwork, or you would find my body buried beneath Mount Bullshit.”_

“So what do you want us to do?” Byleth shoved a pastry into her mouth, chewing furiously. Edelgard handed her her glass of chocolate milk, and she sheepishly washed the pastry down with a gulp of it.

_“Uhm… do what you do best?”_

“You do know what it is we do… right?” Ferdinand gave the rest of the Eagles a look of incredulity. Was Sylvain asking them to do what they thought he was asking?

_“How different would it be to steal a person?”_

* * *

  
  


“Are you sure this is something you want to go through with?” Edelgard asked Dorothea, her eyebrows furrowing in worry.

Sylvain was long gone, Edelgard having bid him farewell while they talked things over amongst themselves. The agent promised he would have something good for them in return, which Edelgard highly doubted. Byleth stood by the screen, where Hubert was going through surveillance cameras on the Galatea property. Something was definitely off, if the few tastelessly dressed, heavily armed thugs wandering around the outside of the property were anything to go by.

Dorothea sat down on a stool at the kitchen counter, sipping another champagne flute of tea carefully. Despite her outward, put-together demeanour, Byleth could tell that she was stressed, on the verge of snapping the stem of the flute into two beneath her grip. 

“You’ve been through a lot lately. Nobody will fault you if you turn this down.”

Ultimately, the Black Eagles decided that the final say rested with Dorothea, as the one person with personal ties to Ingrid.

Petra hovered in the corner of the kitchen, looking more and more like Bernadetta by the second with the way that her eyes flicked from Dorothea to various points in the room and back. Marking exit points, Byleth noted. Still, Petra stayed put, fingers working over the hem of her shirt until Byleth was sure that she had worn a hole in the fabric. 

“I say we do it.” Dorothea announced finally, draining the flute with one long gulp, in such a fashion that Byleth thought that there might actually be some strange coloured champagne in it. 

“Dorothea.” Edelgard said in a low and warning tone.

Dorothea smiled at Edelgard, “It’s okay, Edie. I’m okay.” 

“If you’re sure…” Edelgard relented.

“Very sure. You guys go over the Galatea estate first and see what we can exploit.” Dorothea hopped down from the stool, and whirled around to face Petra who was slowly inching her way out of the kitchen. “Petra, could I talk to you for a moment?”

* * *

  
  


They wound up sitting across from each other in the library. It felt too strange to be in each other’s rooms- a neutral ground to meet in. Dorothea sat forwards in her arm chair, across from Petra. 

Petra huddled on one side of the armchair she was in, like she was trying not to take up too much space in the room.

“I’m sorry for how I treated you this last little while.” Dorothea finally began.

“You do not need to be apologizing. I am sorry for causing you distress.” Petra bowed her head deeply, unwilling to meet Dorothea’s eyes.

“No, no, Petra. It’s not you. This was something that I was going to have to deal with sooner or later. Something that I kept putting off. This is on me, not you.” This was the moment of truth, of terrifying, dizzying truth. It was like standing on the edge of a cliff and willingly throwing yourself off of it, hoping somebody would catch before you dashed yourself against the jagged rocks at the bottom. 

“I always wanted to be loved- ever since I was a little girl. My childhood after my mom died and before Manuela found me was rough. But the way that my mom used to talk about it- the way that it made you feel, how wonderful it was, the feeling that you finally were at home, finally belonged, was whole again- it was all I could ever want. So I went through a lot of relationships, trying to find that person for me, whoever it was. Things never worked out though. And I thought that maybe I was the issue, all of these people and I was the common denominator. And then I met Ingrid.”

Petra’s brows furrowed at the sound of the name, it looked like she was on the edge of saying something but no sounds came out.

“For a long time…” Dorothea sucked in a ragged breath, firmly telling herself that she wasn’t going to cry right now. “I really thought she was the one. That she would be all I would need.” 

Petra nodded understandingly but otherwise kept silent.

“It was easy. Maybe even too easy. We promised each other forever too easily. Looking back on it,” Dorothea rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand. What little make up she still had on came away in a damp smear. “I should have known better that we wouldn’t work out. And when Ingrid and I didn’t work out, I really believed that it was my fault. That maybe I wasn’t capable of love, that maybe I was so used to lying and pretending that it was all I could do.” 

Petra reached out with a tissue, gently wiping away a few tears that Dorothea had missed with the same gentleness that she would treat a priceless work of art. 

Dorothea took a deep breath, steadying her nerves again. “What I’m trying to say is that, I understand now that none of those things are really true. And I hear what you are saying Petra. And I accept your feelings but I can not be in a relationship with you right this instant. I would like a little more time, a few days to sort out my own head first. Is that okay?”

Petra studied Dorothea with such a warm intensity that Dorothea could feel the tips of her ears reddening. Finally, she nodded. “I will be right here, Dorothea. I am not going anywhere. I will be waiting.”

Dorothea smiled. As much as she wanted to reach out with both hands and grab that promised glimmer right now, there were things that she was still struggling with. Things that she needed to sort out with herself first so that she could be the person who could reach out and grab that happiness for herself.

But first, she had to deal with her forever.

* * *

  
  


“I’ve hacked into the Galatea estate security system. There aren’t a lot of interior cameras so I can’t tell you what’s going on inside the building itself, but I have eyes on the outside. I managed to go back and find old footage though.” Hubert steepled his fingers in front of him as several different camera angles played out on the large screen that had suddenly opened up in the middle of the kitchen island.

Byleth didn’t even know they had a screen hidden in there.

“I didn’t know Ingrid’s dad hired armed security.” Caspar noted, jabbing a finger at the screen.

“Tsk. Do not poke the screen with your finger or you will lose it next time.” Hubert grumbled, nodding his thanks to Ferdinand as the other man slid him a cup of freshly made coffee across the counter. “They aren’t armed security guards hired by the Galatea estate.” 

“They’re armed thugs.” Byleth piped up before taking a giant bite of the thick sandwich on her plate. She chewed furiously for a moment and washed down the sandwich with a big gulp of fruit punch. “All of their weapons aren’t standardized, and some of them are modified. No way a proper security company would allow that.”

“They showed up a couple of days before Ingrid did. Six of them in total.” The image changed again on the screen, this time six headshots screencapped from the surveillance footage, a little bit grainy due to how zoomed in the image was and all at different angles but six different men. Hubert’s gaze flicked over to Edelgard so briefly that Byleth nearly missed it. 

Byleth frowned.

“That’s quite the complication,” Edelgard murmured to herself.

Byleth’s frown deepened.

“Here we see Ingrid’s car pull up.” Hubert gestured to the screen with one hand as he took a sip of the coffee. He made a soft noise of affirment that made Ferdinand smile and look away.

“No guards.” Byleth noted. “She just walks in.” 

The fuzzy image of Ingrid walking up the front steps of the building with a single duffel bag over her shoulder was frozen on the screen. 

“Guards resume their regular patrol shortly after that. It’s like they were waiting inside for her to show up where she couldn’t run off too easily.” 

“I mean, anyone would be suspicious if a bunch of armed thugs were manning the front gate of their house.” Ferdinand pointed out dryly with a flick of his bangs.

“So they all retreat back into the house when they see Ingrid coming.” Edelgard mused. “They must have some brain cells.” 

“There’s a camera that points down the only road to the estate. They could see her coming in time to move back inside. I’ve gone through the rest of the footage up until now, I haven’t seen any sign of Ingrid outside since she entered. I haven’t seen any of the staff leave the property either.” 

Byleth caught Ferdinand’s eye over the kitchen counter, who gestured at the untouched plate of food at Hubert’s elbow. 

“Hubert, eat your lunch.” Byleth interjected, turning her frown on Hubert. 

The hacker returned her frown with a grimace but picked up his fork nonetheless.

“There’s seven staff in total.” Edelgard noted, peering at Hubert’s files from over his shoulder. 

“Not a lot for such an expansive property.” Caspar squinted at the images of the estate on the screen. 

“The Galatea family has fallen on hard times. They’ve survived by keeping things lean.” Hubert shrugged.

“The property is rather enclosed. There aren’t a lot of staff for us to blend in with. It would be difficult to sneak in without being noticed.” Edelgard sighed. 

“It doesn’t seem like they would be willing to take on new staff right now either.” Ferdinand hummed thoughtfully. “So that’s not an option.”

“So we con our way in.” 

Byleth turned to find Dorothea smirking from the hallway, looking every bit the confident and sassy grifter that Byleth knew her to be.

“What are you suggesting?” Ferdinand narrowed his eyes at the other grifter. “We don’t usually deal with well armed thugs. They’re usually too trigger happy to be reasoned with.”

“I was thinking the old honeymoon con,” Dorothea flashed Ferdinand her winningest smile.

“This isn’t a vacation spot…?” Ferdinand asked slowly, puzzled.

“Well we don’t have to use it exactly, Ferdie. Just… a variation of it.” Dorothea strode forward, tapping a finger against her chin thoughtfully. Petra meandered close behind, tension arching her usual grace into stiffness. 

“I’ve met Ingrid’s dad before and I’ve been inside the Galatea estate before,” Dorothea continued, beginning to pace in circles around the kitchen counter that everyone was gathered around. “I could pose as a close family friend just dropping in for a visit.” 

Edelgard gave Byleth a look of concern.

“I know that look , Edie. Don’t worry. I’ll be on my best behaviour, this is solely to gather more information.” Dorothea crossed the room. “It’s just difficult to determine what the best course of action is without more intel.”

“But if we con our way in as the scouting aspect, what do we do after?” Caspar wondered. His eyes lit up-

“No, we are not going to blow up the place, or drive a car into it, or anything of that sort.” Edelgard cut him off before he could even start.

Caspar pouted, and crossed his arms. “It was just an idea.”

“We’ll have to figure out what to do once we have more information.” Byleth nodded slowly.

“You do realize that this means that once we’re in, we’re in. There’s no backing out after scouting is completed like other jobs if we think it's too risky.” Linhardt patted Caspar’s arm comfortingly. 

“And the extraction plans if things go south?” Edelgard pursed her lips. 

“There’s a few secret passageways built into the estate that are not present on any known blueprint or document.” Dorothea leaned over the counter to look more intently at the small blueprint in the corner of the screen.

The image enlarged suddenly to take up the entirety of the screen. “Thanks, Hubie.” Dorothea gave him a brilliant smile. “It's right here. If I remember correctly, there’s a switch under one of the wall sconces. There’s a passageway that leads downward and exits- Hubert do you have a map of the surrounding area as well?” 

A few taps on his computer and the blueprints zoomed out to include a topographic map of the area around the estate as well. 

“Hmmmm.” Dorothea examined the new image carefully, “Here. There’s a hidden grate among the rocks here. Excellent view as well. “If we decide to pull the plug on the job, then we can make our exit there.” 

“I still don’t like this. But lets say, _hypothetically_ , we followed this plan. Then what?” 

Byleth reached out as Edelgard strode around the side of the kitchen island so that she could get a better view of the map. Gently, she took a hold of Edelgard’s hand and pulled her over to her side. 

“I know Sylvain asked us to ‘steal’ Ingrid. But I can’t imagine these thugs would be chill with such a move. What’s stopping them from just eliminating the staff or her dad afterwards?” 

“Caspar is right, if we take this on, this is more than stealing one person. This is stealing like… nine people.” Linhardt groaned. “Why did Sylvain have to come to us with this.”

“We can still walk away. We haven’t agreed to anything.” Hubert suggested darkly.

Dorothea shot him a glare. “We aren’t going to leave these poor people out to dry.”

“I am simply stating facts.” Hubert replied, jabbing his fork into a little ball of watermelon with more force than necessary. 

Byleth winced at the sound of the harsh screech of the metal fork against the plate.

“We can tack it onto Sylvain’s bill for this.” Edelgard finally sighed, leaning into Byleth’s side. She brought a hand up to Byleth’s neck and gently rubbed at a knot at the base of it. 

Byleth hummed in contentment as Edelgard twined a hand into the little hairs along the edge of her hairline.

“So we are taking it then!” Dorothea clapped her hands, delighted. “Okay! So I'll go in as a family friend making a trip out to see dear old uncle Ingvir. And I’d want to bring a _date_ of course. I’d bring more than one but I have a feeling they aren’t the most _understanding_.” Dorothea smirked, tossing her hair over her shoulder flippantly. “Edie? You want to be my date for this? For old times sake?”

Edelgard shook her head with a frown. Her body tensed against Byleth’s side.

“I can’t. I know that man.” Edelgard pointed at the picture of a weasley, squinty man with greasy brown hair. “His name is Metodey. He’s a crafty piece of work. Hubert and I, we’ve run a few jobs with him in the past. He’d recognize me immediately and suspect something is up even if he doesn’t know what.” 

“Okay, okay.” Dorothea continued, undeterred. She scanned over the rest of the Black Eagles thoughtfully. “Well I’ll need some muscle, so it would have to be Byleth then.” 

“I agree.” Byleth patted Edelgard’s hand reassuringly. “I can handle anything that goes wrong.” 

Edelgard groaned, “Don’t say that. You know things will go wrong if you say that.”

* * *

  
  


_“How different would it be to steal a person?”_ Caspar mocked, grumbling as he drove what was essentially a souped van over a sorry excuse of a dirt road further into the forest leading up to the Galatea Estate. One plane trip, a few hours to gather themselves and take stock of everything that they had arranged and a few more hours of driving later, the Black Eagles were officially on the case.

“It’s really not that different.” Byleth replied absentmindedly, staring with a faraway look on her face out the window. Trees blurred into a wall of green flying by outside the window. 

_“I concur.”_

“Hubert, that’s terrifying.” Caspar shot back at the hacker’s voice blaring over the van speakers.

_“The plan still holds. I’m not sure what they could possibly be waiting for. There’s been no changes from their routine since Ingrid got there.”_

“It’s been almost three days since Ingrid got there. That’s a lot of time to wait around. That’s a big risk to take. Maybe they’re waiting for more orders?” Edelgard pondered. 

Byleth studied Edelgard’s face for a moment. She looked tired- this whole ordeal had really taken a toll on her. First the issue between Dorothea and Petra, and now this Ingrid heist- Edelgard spent the last night after the Eagles had decided to take Ingrid’s heist planning and arranging for various pieces of equipment to be waiting for them when they arrived.

“It feels like a big undertaking if what they want is money. Not that the Galatea Estate has a lot of that to begin with.” Caspar grunted as they hit another bump in the rough patch of road.

“Hubert, can you do some digging into what else the Galatea estate can offer aside from money?” 

_“Of course. I can run a search for that. Caspar, stop here. This is where we’re going to have to part ways.”_

The van rumbled to a halt and a similarly souped up SUV and a cute little coupe also stopped behind them. Byleth was stunned at how quiet the forest really was without the noisy vehicle engines disturbing the peace. 

“Okay,” Hubert clambered out of the SUV with a silver case in his hands. “Here are the glasses. And your hair clip.” He handed Byleth a pair of black framed glasses and Dorothea a dainty silver hair clip with a delicate rose pattern. 

“Wow, Hubert. Very nice taste.” Dorothea teased as she pinned her bangs back with the hair clip.

“I was assured that these were… _very fashionable._ ” Hubert said the last couple words with much distaste. “The embedded cameras in each will transmit directly to us. Double tapping either arm of the glasses or the clip itself with your finger will transmit an SOS and we can follow your signal. They also have a built in detector for locating bugs. They should vibrate gently if they sense anything. The more frequent the vibrations, the stronger they will get. I can’t tell how well equipped these thugs are, but it doesn’t hurt to be careful.“

Byleth slipped them on over her face, feeling very self conscious about the whole thing. She blinked owlishly, trying to get used to their presence on her face. The lenses didn’t have any prescription in them so her vision wasn’t hampered at all but it still felt a little bit strange on her face. 

Turning, she caught a glimpse of Edelgard’s blushing and surprised expression. Interesting. Byleth smiled warmly at Edelgard and had to hold back a chuckle as Edelgard quickly averted her gaze. 

“I also have a set of bugs and cameras. And your coms, just in case.” Hubert handed Byleth two small black cases. “Try to set them up inside so we can have more eyes on the situation.”

Byleth nodded. She could slide them into the hidden pocket in the base of the bag that she packed for this. It felt unlikely that the thugs would be going through her things but it was hard to tell at this point. 

“Okay, keep in touch. You have two days. Caspar will be waiting at the extraction point. If anything goes wrong, you get out. Your safety is paramount here.” Edelgard’s voice made Byleth turn around again. 

Edelgard was suddenly standing right in front of Byleth, smoothing out some of the wrinkles in Byleth's shirt. “There is no shame in walking away from this if it gets dangerous.” 

“I know. I’d still like to at least investigate.” Byleth smiled again.

“Don’t worry, Edie. I’ll bring your girl back in one piece.” Dorothea threw an arm around Byleth with a grin. “The sooner we head out, the sooner we can return.”

Edelgard relented with a sigh. “Alright, be safe.”

“We’re professionals Edie!” Dorothea called out over her shoulder as she climbed into the passenger seat of the red coupe. “This is what we do!” 

* * *

  
  


“So honey,” Dorothea batted her eyelashes flirtatiously at Byleth as they continued down the road toward the Galatea estate.

“Yes...Dorothea?” Byleth asked uncertainly, eyes still focused on the road ahead of them.

“Remind me again, how did we meet?” Dorothea leaned against the center console, propping her chin up against her hand.

“We attended the same kickboxing class.” Byleth replied, tensing as the car drove over a particularly large bump. 

Dorothea had come up with a whole backstory of their ‘relationship’ on the brief flight over. Thankfully, it wasn’t too complicated and Byleth had it memorized by the end of the flight.

“Are you nervous?” Dorothea asked, sighing and relaxing back into her seat.

“No. I worked a lot of solo jobs in the past.”

“How… mysterious.” Dorothea smirked, “Edie has taken quite a liking to you, hasn’t she.”

“Yes.” Byleth replied blankly. Where was Dorothea going with this?

“...I think you’re good for her.” Dorothea finally said after a long moment. 

“Thank you…?” Byleth gave Dorothea a confused look. 

“Ever since she met you, she doesn’t feel as far away.” Dorothea mused cryptically. 

Byleth frowned, mulling over those words. “I don’t think I understand.”

“That’s okay. You’re good for her.”

The rest of the ride was quiet, Dorothea lost in her own thoughts as Byleth focused on driving. Byleth had a lot of thoughts, a lot of thought about a lot of things. Also a lot of questions. 

What was burdening Edelgard? Something clearly weighed down her. Something heavy. Byleth could see glimpses of it sometimes after a long night. Something beyond exhaustion and weariness. Something that Byleth couldn’t quite put her finger on. 

The sound of a metal gate swinging open marked their arrival onto the Galatea estate- courtesy of some technological magic on Hubert’s end. The courtyard was exactly as Byleth had seen it in the surveillance feeds that Hubert had gathered. Neatly kept, nothing extravagant or fancy. Orderly, tidy, and functional. 

“No guards,” Dorothea murmured under her breath as they pulled up next to Ingrid’s car. 

Both of them expected that they would have to begin the con the second they set foot onto the property- ready to be accosted by the armed guards. The eerie quiet that greeted them was rather unexpected. 

“Well, let’s get to it then?” Byleth clambered out of the coupe and retrieved her duffel bag from the back seat. Dorothea pulled her small carry on size luggage out as well. The plastic wheels clattered noisily against the cobblestones. 

The car beeped its acknowledgement as Byleth locked its doors and Dorothea met her around the far side of the vehicle, looping her arm around Byleth’s arm with a cheeky smile. 

Dorothea led her up the old stone steps as Byleth surreptitiously glanced around to make sure the coast was still clear as they moved. Still smiling, Dorothea pulled the two of the three hairpins from her bun and got to work on the front lock.

The usually ornate pieces of jewelry were disguised as lockpicks and while Dorothea wasn’t the best at picking locks- before this whole incident, she had been taking lessons from Petra, the fact that this was an older lock with not a lot of tricky parts also helped. The crafty part of this was the way Dorothea did it while standing up straight, palming a key into her hand as the door finally unlocked with a faint click. Tucking the hair pins back into her bun, Dorothea casually pushed the front door open, key still in hand.

What greeted them was not at all what they were expecting. 

Byleth half expected an empty foyer, dimly lit, the barrel of the gun in their faces. Instead, the foyer was brightly lit, well kept, and smelled faintly like lemon scented wood polish. 

“Hello?” A timid voice called out. 

An older woman at the top of the grand staircase at the back of the foyer peered cautiously over the bannister at them. “Is that you, Dorothea?” 

“Oh, Eleanor!” Dorothea exclaimed, hurrying across the room and up the stairs to grasp the older woman’s hand. “It’s so nice to see you again! How long has it been!”

Byleth paused where she was in the front entrance way. There was a flicker of movement to her right, and Byleth spotted a figure in an ill-fitting suit watching them from behind a curtain. The glint of the barrel of a gun peeked out from his side. 

“Oh it’s been so long! Too long!” Eleanor smiled at Dorothea, though her expression quickly became one of worry. Her voice dropped to a whisper that Byleth could barely hear, “Pardon me for asking, but why are you here?”

Dorothea smiled good naturedly, “Uncle Ingvir told me to drop by anytime I was free, remember?”

“Of course, of course. I just thought since you and…” The woman trailed off. “That’s okay though! I’m sure Mr. Galatea will be happy to see you nonetheless. He has always been very fond of you. Oh and this is…?”

“Oh silly me, I nearly forgot. This is my girlfriend. Cara,” Dorothea beckoned for Byleth to come over.

Byleth shuffled forward awkwardly, trying her best to look like the adoring girlfriend, Dorothea’s little red suitcase trailing after her like a lost puppy. “Cara Sius,” Byleth shook Eleanor’s hand firmly. 

“Eleanor Falk. I’m the head of staff here.” 

The older woman looked slightly harried and glanced around the front foyer. 

“I hope we’re not imposing too much, Ms. Falk,” Byleth bowed her head politely as Dorothea looped her arm around Byleth’s waist, leaning in close. “Dot was telling me about how beautiful the Galatea estate was at this time of the year and she insisted that we had to come take a look.”  
  


“No, no it’s not too much trouble. I think Mr. Galatea will be pleased to have the company, he’s been stressed as of late.” Eleanor ushered them up the stairs. “In fact, we were just about to have dinner- would you care to join us?” 

Dorothea beamed, “I would be delighted! I am feeling a little bit peckish.” 

* * *

Eleanor led them further into the estate. Byleth could see that the once grand building had fallen into a more… functional state of repair. Some spots were patched over and repaired but hadn’t been repainted yet. The wooden flooring beneath their feet was well worn and scuffed but surprisingly free of all creaks and groans. Even the curtains, which were in dire need of an update given their fading colour, were in otherwise good condition. 

Functional, but homey, Byleth mused. Not at all like the opulent grandeur that Byleth was used to seeing in other estates of such size. The lived in look was a good one, Byleth decided.

The hallway they were led down opened out to a decently sized dining room. The curtains were flung wide open, sunlight streaming into the room through large floor to ceiling windows that spanned the width of the room. At the head of the table sat an older man- pale blonde hair fading into an even paler grey-white. Byleth could see all the hints of Ingrid in the man, the sharp green eyes, the similar shape of their faces- Ingvir Galatea looked exhausted.

The way that he sat, ramrod straight in his seat and the force that he gripped his knife and fork spoke volumes. Even when he was eating, he couldn’t relax. Another table setting was set across the long dining table, facing Ingvir, though the seat sat empty at the moment.

Despite his stress, Ingvir brightened up considerably at the sight of Dorothea. “Is that you Dorothea?” He rose from his seat to greet Dorothea.

“Hello Uncle Ingvir!” Dorothea practically ran across the dining room to meet him and greeted him with a warm hug. “It is so good to see you again!” 

“You as well, Dorothea. I didn’t think I would ever get the honour of hosting you in my home again.” Ingvir patted Dorothea’s shoulder fondly. 

“Are you alright, uncle? You seem quite stressed.” Dorothea guided him back to his seat where he sank down into the cushion with a heavy sigh.

“He’s just a little worried. Aren’t you _father?_ ” A thin and reedy voice spoke up from the side. 

Byleth glanced over at the speaker. The weasley looking man that Edelgard had pointed out as someone she had worked with in the past stood there, leaning against the doorframe, arms tucked behind his back. His hair had such a greasy look to it that it made Byleth file it away as a potential flammable item.

Dorothea’s smile never faltered as she turned the full force of her charm on the newcomer. “Oh, and who is this, _Uncle_?” She strode forward, around the table so that she was directly between the man and Ingvir. 

“This is… Metodey.” Ingvir spoke the name like it pained him to do so. 

“Nice to meet you, Metodey.” Dorothea sized the man up but made no move to approach him.

Metodey was kind of scrawny and thin. It looked like he was wearing a shirt a size too small in an effort to look a little bigger than he really was. There was no definition in his arms and Byleth was reminded of one of those giant inflatable people with flailing arms that were often seen on the edge of gas station parking lots.

“And who is this, father? I wasn’t aware that we were expecting… _guests._ ” Metodey stalked around the far edge of the dining table so that he could have a clear view of Ingvir. His eyes flicked back and forth between Dorothea and Byleth for a moment, assessing them.

Byleth offered him her most awkward smile.

“I’m Dorothea,” Dorothea laid a hand on Ingvir’s shoulder stopping him from answering Metodey’s question. “I’m a family friend and Uncle Ingvir has always welcomed me to drop by whenever I could.”

Metodey flashed them a smarmy smile that made Byleth want to take a shower. “And this…” He gestured at Byleth, still standing off to the side.

“This is my girlfriend, Cara.” Dorothea practically flounced back over to Byleth’s side and wrapped Byleth’s arm around her shoulders. 

She paused, smirking at Byleth- the angle of her head preventing Metodey from seeing her expression. Dorothea was up to something then, Byleth surmised.

It was like watching someone put on a mask. As quickly as the smirk appeared, it was gone, replaced by a look of polite disinterest as Dorothea turned back to face Metodey. 

“Is that going to be a problem, Mr. Metodey?” The tone of her voice made it seem like a dare for him to say something.

“Not at all, not at all.” Metodey replied with the air of one placating a child throwing a temper tantrum. “As a matter of fact, you are free to join us for the wedding.”

Dorothea glanced over at Byleth, suspicious and puzzled. “Wedding?”

“Did Ingvir not tell you? Ingrid and I are getting married.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hellllloooooo.
> 
> Less action than I would have liked in this chapter but among all the places for me to cut the chapter this was the best spot so here we are.We move into the new heist and nearing the end of the Dorothea arc here- nothing like a non typical heist to really wrap things up.
> 
> (Fun fact: Byleth's fake name is actually a fish in the FE3H games lmao). 
> 
> The next chapter may or may not be delayed- hard to say right now. It's going to be a significantly longer chapter and I'm like...maybe a third of the way through it? But also I'm in the midst of working out some other projects AND its midterms season and I'm stuck in marking hell so we shall see. :( You can follow me over on twitter at bardigrade where i will probably post a little notice based on when I'll update. 
> 
> As always, thank you so much for reading! Kudos and comments are always much welcomed.
> 
> Please stay safe out there and see you soon! <3
> 
> (Happy Halloween too lmao)


	21. Dorothea II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dorothea and Byleth go investigating but a series of unfortunate events forces Dorothea to come to a realization about who she is and who she has been. 
> 
> Also Dorothea says fuck a few times lmao
> 
> chapter TW: blood

“That’s so fucked up.” Dorothea growled pacing angrily back and forth in the bedroom that Eleanor had gotten ready for them after dinner.

Dinner was a tense affair, Metodey taking some kind of twisted pleasure in referring to Ingvir as father at every opportunity he got- probably just to remind Ingvir that he was going to marry Ingrid. And Dorothea took every opportunity to flaunt her relationship with Byleth in front of Metodey.

The weasley man didn’t know that they knew Ingrid was being coerced somehow, and every public display of affection that Dorothea made seemed to only make him angrier. With every move, Ingvir seemed to recede further and further into his chair.

Byleth and Dorothea retreated to their new room as quickly as they could after dinner was finished, citing exhaustion from the drive out to the Galatea estate. Fortunately, Byleth had the sense of mind to hide one of Hubert’s spy cams and bugs in the potted plant outside their room door, giving them an extra set of eyes into the hallway. Byleth resolved to try to place as many of the spy cams as she could throughout the house.

Despite Dorothea’s impatience to convene with the other Black Eagles, Byleth took off her glasses and carefully swept the entirety of the room with them balanced on her palm. 

Satisfied that the room was not bugged, she allowed Dorothea to pull out her phone and call Edelgard.

_ “Hello?” _

“Edie! This is so fucked up!” Dorothea huffed as she handed Byleth the phone so she could resume her pacing.

_ “We heard you the first time over the video feeds,”  _ Hubert grumbled in the back.

“Ingrid is being forced to marry this creepy rat bastard!”

_ “We heard.”  _ Hubert repeated himself with a sigh. 

_ “Are we sure that she’s being forced to marry Metodey?” _ Caspar yelled from somewhere distant.

Dorothea rounded on the phone in Byleth’s hand. “Of course she’s being forced to marry him! Have you seen him? Ingrid would never go for someone like him!”

_ “Also her father looks wildly uncomfortable about the whole thing.”  _ Edelgard reminded both of them pointedly.

Dorothea sighed and resumed pacing. 

“What bothers me is that the front courtyard was empty of guards when we arrived. They must have seen us coming- but why did they retreat into the house to let us in? The thugs resumed their rounds after our arrival,” Byleth pondered out loud and turned to look out the window instead, watching Dorothea pace back and forth was quickly becoming dizzying.

_ “They were expecting someone else. Someone else who isn’t in on their plans but is coming to the estate.”  _ Edelgard said slowly letting the idea fall into place as she spoke.

_ “The Galatea estate is notoriously difficult to navigate legally. I remember Ingvir’s own marriage was an intricate web of different contracts and other logistics. Let me do some digging around and I will get back to you and the specifics.” _

“This means that they probably need someone in the know to handle the paperwork. Maybe a lawyer? Don't the Galateas have their own lawyer?” Dorothea spun on her heel to face Byleth, brow furrowed.

_ “So maybe they were expecting the lawyer to show up. And you wandered in instead. Hubert could you look into the lawyer as well? It doesn’t seem like he would be in on the plan given the action of the guards but just double check his background.” _

Hubert made a small grunt of affirmation in the background.

“I think Metodey said they were getting married soon- in a day or two? The lawyer must have to be present for that to happen.” Dorothea tapped her chin thoughtfully, musing out loud. “But what does he get out of this marriage? There’s no money to be had here- this place is falling apart.”

_ “If there is dirt, I will find it.”  _ Hubert promised them.  _ “We have one of Metodey’s men approaching.” _

The phone hung up with a sharp click. Dorothea crossed the room silently- an impressive feat considering she was wearing four inch heels on wooden floors, and pressed her ear to the door. 

The phone in Byleth’s hand blinked to life again, the slightly grainy footage of the spycam on the other side of the door now on the screen. The man stopped, just a few steps away from their door. The glint of the rifle that he held in his hands was unmistakable even on the screen. 

Even through the slightly grainy image, Byleth knew that this was a powerful rifle and could easily fire rounds that would shred through the door and walls that gave them the false sense that they were safe in this house.

From the door, Dorothea shook her head, there was no further movement or sounds. The man remained there, staring at the door, as if daring them to open it. Byleth tipped the phone towards Dorothea so that she could see the footage.

A moment passed, and then another, until finally the man turned stiffly on his heel and wandered down the hallway. They could still see him at the edge of the spy cam’s view, one beat up shoe tapping away on the worn floor.

“Well. That’s certainly not ominous at all.” Dorothea commented wryly. “I had wanted to do a little sneaking around tonight but I guess we’ll just try that in broad daylight instead.”

* * *

“In the nicest way possible, Edelgard, if you are trying to get some cardio in, could you go outside?” Linhardt groused from his spot in the back of the van. The man had been curled up against Caspar’s lap, trying to take a nap, but Edelgard’s incessant pacing in the cramped space of the van made that very difficult.

Edelgard shot him a glare.

“I concur,” Hubert spoke up from where he was hunched over his screens. He didn’t even bother to look up from his work.

With a huff, Edelgard opened the van door and hopped outside, the fallen foliage crunching beneath her boots.

“Are you doing okay, Edelgard?” Petra murmured from the camping chair that they had brought along. Even though her question was directed to Edelgard, her eyes were fixed on the starry night sky high above them. 

Petra insisted on joining them in the field for this heist. Edelgard had resisted at first- Petra hadn’t fully recovered yet but the steely determination in her eyes finally made Edelgard reconsider. 

She had been silent for most of the trip out to Galatea and even now, surrounded by the quiet of the forest around them. 

“...Just stressed.” Edelgard pinched the bridge of her nose tiredly. She had spent the majority of last night planning and arranging and had gotten very little sleep as a result. 

Watching Dorothea and Byleth during their dinner did not help matters at all, stoking the hungering exhaustion into a starving flame in the pit of her stomach. 

Every flirtatious comment and little touch between Dorothea and Byleth sent little sparks of  _ something _ spiralling through Edelgard. Watching the feed play from Byleth’s glasses camera was another strange experience that Edelgard was not prepared for. The way that Byleth would turn to look at Dorothea’s hand on her arm, head tilted to the side so that the video feed was similarly crooked made Edelgard furrow her brow without her even realizing.

The strange tension did not ease even out in the crisp night air. Edelgard felt like a bowstring pulled taut but with no idea why, what was the aim here?   
  


She couldn’t bring herself to answer that.

The flare of jealousy beneath Edelgard’s skin burned, low and seething. Even if Edelgard didn’t want to answer, the feeling shouldered its way to the forefront of Edelgard’s thoughts, making it near impossible to ignore.

It was ridiculous, irrational, illogical, and Edelgard knew it. She knew that this was a heist and this was nothing more than two professionals doing what had to be done for a job. They had all pretended to be in varying relationships with each other for a heist at one point or another. This really ought to be no different but even so, Edelgard couldn’t help the uncomfortable feelings that rose up in her.

What could she possibly be jealous about?

“I am having a question, Edelgard.” 

Edelgard looked up, startled out of her thoughts by Petra’s voice.

There was a faraway look to her eyes, teeth grinding against each other as she mulled something over in her head. Finally, after a long moment, she spoke again. “Dorothea is speaking so beautifully. Her words sound so… real.”

_How do I know what's real?_

Edelgard gaped at Petra for a moment. The way that Petra stated this fact and the unspoken question that went along with it went beyond mere curiosity after all.. Even though Petra was trying her best to steel herself to speak these words with a straight face, Edelgard could see the shade of hurt that crossed her face.

“I am not very good at speaking.” Petra said at last, so quietly, so faint, that Edelgard nearly missed it, the words carried away by the night breeze.

“Dorothea has always been very good at what she does,” Edelgard began lamely- only to be interrupted by a hand on her shoulder. 

She turned to see the smiling face of Ferdinand beaming down at her. He pressed a small hand wrapped packet of cookies into her hand.

“It’s okay if you aren’t very good at speaking, Petra.” Ferdinand smiled sadly down at Petra and draped the blanket that he was holding under his arm around her shoulders.

Petra looked up at him in confusion, unsure what he was trying to say. 

“Dorothea has never put much stock in words. Coming from this line of work, I don’t blame her. Lying is too easy. You can say anything you want and in the next moment mean none of those things you just promised.”

Petra frowned, turning Ferdinand’s words over in her mind.

“To Dorothea, words are worthless. It’s not about what you say that matters to her, Petra.” Ferdinand reached down and squeezed Petra’s hands comfortingly. “I think what has always spoken the loudest is what you do first and what you do when it comes down to the wire. And you have proven yourself time and time again to have her back without ever even being asked.”

“Petra,” The packaging of the cookies crinkled in Edelgard’s hands as she strode forwards. “I know you think that you aren’t very good with your words. But I think your heart speaks plenty loud.”

The spark of hope in Petra’s eyes at her words was enough to settle the flickering emotions beneath Edelgard’s skin. 

Edelgard would talk to Byleth once this was over, sort some things out.

* * *

Byleth barely slept that night. 

Hubert promised them that one of the Eagles would be monitoring the hallway spy cam at all times and they would immediately be alerted if anything ought to happen.

Even so, Byleth laid there on the bed in this strange in between state. Eyes closed, breathing slow- it almost seemed like she was sleeping. Except behind that facade, she was silently aware of everything around her.

Hyper aware even. 

From the way that the wind blew against the windows, a high pitched howling, to the way that Dorothea rolled over onto her side in her sleep. For someone who was usually so poised and put together, it was a welcome reminder for Byleth that Dorothea was also still just human. 

More pressing was the man out in the hallway. From what Byleth could tell from the slight swishy noise of the man’s clothes rubbing against itself, he was still in the hallway. The noise doubled up briefly- footsteps coming and going and then it was silent.

Byleth blinked awake, the realization of the lack of sound finally registering in Byleth’s brain. She rolled over blearily to check the phone on the nightstand. It buzzed just as she picked it up.

_ “Hallway is clear.” _ A message from Hubert.

Byleth let out a long breath, feeling some of the tension bleed out of her bones. It was still early. As difficult as it was, Byleth rolled onto her back again and closed her eyes, determined to at least try to rest. It was a futile few hours of laying there though. Eventually Byleth gave up and simply stared out of the window at the rays of sunlight peak over the horizon until the sun finally clawed its way fully in to the sky. By the time Dorothea woke up and finished getting ready for the day, it was already late morning.  


Breakfast was quiet but delicious. Ingvir and Metodey were both absent from the table, leaving Dorothea and Byleth by themselves at the large dining room table. 

They weren’t without guards though, Byleth noted a skinnier man, different from the two that she had seen yesterday, skulking in the corner of the room, his rifle also dangling loosely from his side. 

Dorothea chattered away tirelessly with the staff that flitted around the dining area, catering to their every demand and non-demand. Eleanor lingered at the edge of the table clearly delighted to have this new guest in the house. Byleth was delighted at the assortment of smoked fish on eggs, busying herself with trying each fish and letting Dorothea take control of the conversation.

“Oh, Eleanor?” Dorothea said as she and Byleth finally excused themselves from the dining table, several fish heavier on Byleth’s part. 

The woman looked up from where she was collecting dishes.

“I forgot to bring a towel with me, do you think you could lend me one to use?” 

“Of course! I’ll bring one up to you once I get these dishes put away.” 

Dorothea beamed and grabbed Byleth’s hand, practically dragging her out of the dining room. “You’re a darling, Eleanor!” 

Byleth waited until they were out of the dining room and safe upstairs again. “Don’t you have a towel?”

“Shhhh, honey.” Dorothea smirked at her, “The towels here at Galatea are something else.”

* * *

  
  


“Dorothea? I have brought some fresh towels for you to use!” Eleanor tapped on the door politely again.

“Oh of course, thank you!” Dorothea opened the door with a smile. But instead of taking the towels from Eleanor’s outstretched hands, she grasped the woman by the hand and tugged her into the room as well. 

“Did you need something else?” Eleanor asked, confused as Dorothea shut the door behind her- standing between the older woman and the exit.

“Eleanor, let’s be frank here. Is everything alright?” Dorothea made an imposing figure with her hands on her hips. The heels that she wore gave her an extra six inches to her already tall stature, making her even more intimidating.

“I mean…” Eleanor looked torn, unsure whether or not she should confide in Dorothea about matters like this, “I’m not sure. Mr. Galatea hasn’t said anything. But he’s been under a lot of stress as of late.” She finally said.

“Has Ingrid arrived already? I haven’t seen her at all.” Dorothea finally took the towels from Eleanor’s hand, tucking them under her arm but making no move away from the door.

“She is, she arrived a few days ago but apparently she's been ill and Metodey has been taking care of her. He’s been very protective over her, he won’t let anyone tend to her except himself.”

“That sounds more controlling than anything else…” Dorothea scowled, “You haven’t seen her at all?” 

“No, the two of them have taken a room over in the east wing of the house, he has his security team guarding the way into the upper floors of that wing.” Eleanor admitted. 

“Oh his security team.  They’re well armed.  What's with them? Is he in trouble for something?” Dorothea dropped her voice to a conspiratorial whisper, making it seem like two old friends gossiping about a new manager.

Even Eleanor couldn’t help but lean in, drawn into Dorothea’s orbit like an asteroid with a sun. “He told us that he’s a powerful man with a lot of powerful enemies and that’s why he has such an extreme security detail at all times. That’s also why his wedding with Ingrid is so sudden and secretive- nobody else is invited because he is worried what might happen if his  _ enemies _ caught wind.”

“I just think he sounds insecure,” Dorothea remarked flippantly. “What do you think of him, Eleanor? 

Eleanor floundered for a moment, gaping at Dorothea like a fish out of water. “He.... speaks well…? He’s polite.” She was grasping at straws and Dorothea knew it.

“You don’t like him very much, do you?” Dorothea smirked at her triumphantly.

Eleanor shook her head, looking almost ashamed. “I honestly don’t understand what Ingrid would possibly see in a man like him.” 

“Do you feel threatened by him and his guards in any way?” Byleth spoke up from her spot in the corner of the room next to the door. Dorothea seemed to have everything handled earlier so she had taken a step back from the situation.

Eleanor yelped, not having noticed Byleth’s silent presence in the corner of the room to the side of the door earlier. “Oh I didn’t notice you there, Cara. You gave me such a fright.” Eleanor took a deep breath to recompose herself. “I am certainly not used to having armed men around the house. They haven’t done anything  _ per se _ but it isn’t doing anything for my well being having them around.”

Byleth nodded to herself in understanding.

“Well honey, we should let Eleanor go, she’s a busy woman after all. These are quite the juicy little tidbits you've shared with us Eleanor."  Dorothea turned and opened the door again, throwing Eleanor a wink like she had given them insider knowledge on a celebrity scandal. That was all this conversation was, just swapping some hot gossip.

"Now Cara,  Let's make the best of our stay here. Normally I would suggest a walk around in the garden but I don't think we've made good use of the _bed_ yet.” The knowing and almost salacious look that she gave Eleanor had the other woman blushing furiously and nearly tripping over herself to exit the room and probably the entire hallway.

It was fascinating how Dorothea commanded the room, communicating without really even saying anything to get the effect that she wanted.

Dorothea tossed the towels onto the bed after she closed the doors. “Aren’t the towels here so informative?”

“You just wanted to talk to her in private.” Byleth retorted, leaning against the edge of the desk in the room. The rounded and worn edge spoke only to how old and well-used this desk was. Byleth pulled out her phone and dialed Edelgard.

_ “Well, it seems like you need to locate Ingrid first and foremost. Metodey can’t exactly marry somebody who isn’t present.”  _ Edelgard offered in lieu of a greeting.

“Should we go for our morning stroll instead then?” Dorothea asked Byleth as she cracked open her suitcase, letting the two halves fall open with a dull thud. For such a small piece of luggage, it certainly weighed a ton. 

“Yes. I’d like to take a look at this forbidden east wing for myself.” Byleth nodded in affirmation, debating on what to take with her. Caspar had provided her with a few of his latest little distractions that she had hidden away in her bag. Frowning, she pocketed three of the smallest ones, about the size and colouration of a gumball. Her father’s pocket knife went into her other pocket.

“A sneaky little stroll then,” Dorothea smirked.

* * *

  
  


The hallways were quiet as they crept their way across the large and aging manor, careful to avoid the busier areas where the staff were hard at work and steering clear of guards lurking in corners. It was clear that Ingvir had made the difficult choice of maintaining only certain sections of the building to a livable standard while the rest was simply kept intact to prevent the elements from getting in.

There were two of Metodey’s armed men stationed on the main floor, guarding the way into the east wing of the building. They were positioned at the main staircase so that the entire east wing seemed to be blocked off. 

Dorothea rolled her eyes, dragging Byleth with her into the unoccupied library located on the upper floor through a different staircase, out of the guard’s eyesight. The library was dark, save for the little bit of sunlight that streamed in past the thick drapes over a set of large doors on the opposite side of the room.

Like she had done it a thousand times before, Dorothea crept out of the library and onto the balcony. 

“They think they’re so clever, standing guard in front of the main staircase,” Dorothea rolled her eyes as she climbed onto the stone railing of the balcony. “We’ll make our own path across. Nothing like some fresh air.” 

She leaned against the railing, looking out at the gardens below. Byleth joined her, looking in the other direction. Not a guard in sight.

Byleth watched as Dorothea pranced across the series of balconies that ran the width of the building with all of the grace of a trained dancer. 

With a sigh, Byleth followed suit, nimbly vaulting into the next balcony, and then the next one, until she joined Dorothea on a balcony three rooms down the width of the building. Dorothea was already picking the lock on the door with her hairpins, a look of tense frustration as the lock stuck.

“Aha!” Dorothea declared triumphantly after another beat. The door swung open with a gentle whine, the hinges oiled but hadn’t been used much. 

They crept into an unused bedroom. All the furniture was covered in aging white cloth and a thick layer of dust. Byleth closed the balcony doors behind them as Dorothea moved to the door, ear pressed against it to listen into the hallway.

A moment, then another, then Dorothea opened the door a crack to peek out into the darkened hallway. Another moment. 

“Okay, it’s clear for now.” Dorothea sighed as she ducked her head back inside the room. 

Byleth nodded, there were rooms that lined the hallway all the way down from what Byleth could remember. There was also another set of stairs at the very end of the hallway leading up to a much smaller third floor. 

“There’s also an unmarked servant’s hallway between the painting of Sir Bark and Lady Purrsephone. The lady stares at the hidden switch.” Dorothea added helpfully.

Right, there were many hidden passages and doorways in this building. Byleth would never understand why rich people needed these hidden passages for their servants. It wasn’t like it was a secret that they had servants- it was something that they flaunted but at the same time they wanted to hide their presence. It was just overly complicated, that’s what it was.

“Room by room? I’ll take the left side of the hall, you take the right?” 

Most of the doors were unlocked and they made quick work of the hallway, listening in to each room before carefully easing the door open just to double check. It seemed the entire wing hadn’t been used in quite a long while, each room covered in dust and sheets. Byleth was impressed that none of the doors made too much noise, nor did the floorboards creak despite how old and unused this entire wing was.

Did that mean that whatever room Metodey was keeping Ingrid in was also this dusty? Metodey didn’t look like he was the type to be cleaning- Eleanor could probably use his hair to polish the furniture though.

Byleth just finished her side of the hallway and was rounding the corner when she could hear footsteps coming up the stairs. Hastily she tried the handle of the room she was standing in front of, only to find it locked. 

Dorothea was further down the hallway, having just picked the lock to the only other doorway on her side of the hall. There wouldn’t be enough time for her to make it down the hallway without being spotted. In a split second decision, Byleth skidded to a halt in front of two strange portraits. 

A regal looking black dog dressed in a old fashioned tweed suit, complete with a monocle and a snooty white cat with a little crown on her head. There was nothing sticking out of the wall where Lady Purrsephone was looking at but Byleth slammed the base of her hand into the wall anyway, feeling for anything that might give.

Fortunately the wooden panel under her palm gave way with a faint click and the wall between the two portraits swung inward. Dorothea had long disappeared into the door that Byleth last saw her picking the lock of. 

With a deep breath, Byleth disappeared into the dark and narrow passageway, not knowing what lay ahead, only that she needed to draw this attention elsewhere, away from Dorothea and contain it.

* * *

  
  


Dorothea listened carefully into the hallway. She had nearly dropped the lock picks in her haste to get the door open. Never before had she been under so much pressure to get a door unlocked and the excitement of it made her heart nearly pound right out of her chest. 

The hallway, however, remained silent. The thugs were content to chase after Byleth it seemed. 

Hopefully, Byleth would be able to handle them. Who was Dorothea kidding, Byleth could probably kick their asses with both hands tied behind her back. The fact that Metodey’s men were chasing after Byleth though meant that Dorothea had to locate Ingrid, and fast.

Dorothea didn’t hear the tell-tale crackle of walkie-talkies as the footsteps faded- only the faint scrape of wood against wood as the passageway sealed itself up again. Hopefully Metodey and the others hadn’t been notified of their duplicity yet.

With the firm square of her shoulders, Dorothea took a deep breath and crept back out into the hallway. It was indeed clear. No other motion at all. 

If Ingrid was being kept on this floor, the commotion would have brought Metodey, or at the very least, another guard running out to investigate. No, Ingrid had to be on the top floor.

Quickly, Dorothea made her way to the upper floor, the stairs winding around themselves and then opening out into a tiny landing with a forgotten bust on a pedestal. A single door on the left was the lone resident here.

There were voices behind the door. 

No, just one voice.

Masculine.

Not Metodey though. Dorothea could pick his snide and nasally tone out of a caterwauling chorus any day. The voice was nearing the door, footsteps loud and heavy- and suddenly there was Metodey’s voice.  


Distant and tinny. A little bit scratchy.

It sounded like he was coming through a speakerphone.

He was irritated, impatient, an asshole- that much Dorothea could tell from his tone even though she couldn’t quite make out the individual words. Okay, maybe the last thing wasn’t something that Dorothea could tell from his tone but she knew he was an asshole. 

There was nowhere for Dorothea to hide, save for scrambling down the stairs. Dorothea looked up. There was a small space in the ceiling where two upper walls didn’t meet so that there was room for a skylight. It was slightly cloudy outside so maybe this crazy idea would work. 

It would have to do.

The landing itself was very narrow and Dorothea kicked off her heels and let them dangle from her wrist. With an impressive jump she leapt up and grabbed the base of the decorative wall moulding on the walls above her, one hand on each wall.

How did Petra always make this look so easy? 

Grumbling, Dorothea pushed her legs against the wall in front of her, pressing her back to the wall behind her. It felt like an eternity had passed but Dorothea was able to walk herself up the wall, into the space under the sky light, using her arms to pull herself up a little bit. She made it into the little crevice just as the door opened. 

“- the lawyer will be here today. So you better be on your best behaviour today and sign those papers.” A large man appeared below Dorothea. 

He was holding a phone out towards the door, comical from Dorothea’s point of view, given how small the phone looked in the man’s meaty palm.

“I’m not signing anything until you let my father go.” Ingrid’s voice sounded from inside the room. She sounded strained, exhausted.

“You are not in any position to make demands, my dear _ fiancée _ . Keep your attitude up and I might keep dear old man around with us a while longer.” The man shifted his jacket out of the way and Dorothea could see the glint of a pistol holstered on his hip. 

That was a threat if Dorothea had ever heard or seen one.

“I’ll see you soon, dearest.” The call ended with a sharp click and the man turned on his heel, headed for the staircase.

Dorothea dropped down behind him, landing with such grace and poise that it even took herself by surprise.

“What-” Before the man could even realize what was happening, Dorothea jammed the needle in her ring into his neck.

The man seized in her grip, stiffening as the poison coursed through him. A second later, he was laid out on the floor, Dorothea doing her best to not drop him too hard and make too much noise.

“That was anticlimactic,” Dorothea commented as she stepped over the unconscious man and back into her shoes.

Ingrid was crouched behind the bed, trying to find cover and be ready for whatever threat had seemingly just taken down the guard. The woman looked absolutely exhausted, dark circles under her eyes, skin paler than usual. 

To say that Ingrid was surprised to see Dorothea stride into the room like she owned the place was an understatement. She seemed genuinely flabbergasted at Dorothea’s sudden appearance. 

“Dorothea?” Ingrid asked, dazed. 

“Ingrid,” Dorothea greeted politely, head held high and shoulders stiff. She did a quick twirl, scanning the room. 

White sheets lay in a messy pile on the floor in the corner. The layer of dust that the sheets had valiantly protected the furniture from was now scattered into the air probably. Most of the pieces of furniture were old and barely in use. A duffel bag sat on the floor, its contents spilling out, no longer folded. 

“Well, your dating choices have taken a sharp downhill I see.” 

Ingrid scowled at her.

The guard’s fallen body in the doorway reminded Dorothea that there were more important things to do than to snark at her ex. 

“Help me move old toe-fingers into the room.” Dorothea sighed and beckoned for Ingrid to grab the man’s legs. 

Hesitantly, Ingrid followed her out into the landing, still unsure about the whole thing and very jumpy. Between the two of them, they half lifted, half dragged the man’s heavy form as best they could into the room and dumped him onto the floor. 

Dorothea glanced over at Ingrid, “You got handcuffs?” 

“No. They confiscated them when I got here.” Ingrid made a face at the memory, clearly displeased about the whole thing.

Rolling her eyes, Dorothea crouched down next to the man and rifled through his pockets. A wallet, a small bottle of cheap cologne, three different cell phones, a half eaten stick of gum, and a some zip ties. The faint ratcheting sound as the zipties closed around the man’s wrists was deliciously satisfying. Dorothea stood back up, the holster and gun in her hand now.

“What are you doing here?” Ingrid crossed her arms and frowned at Dorothea.

“I could ask you the same thing.” Dorothea dangled the gun from one finger, offering the weapon to Ingrid with a look of disdain.

“...Sylvain put you up to this, didn’t he?” 

“Sylvain didn’t put me up to anything. He came to us with the information, we acted on our own,” Dorothea retorted, wiggling the gun in front of Ingrid’s face so that she would take it.

Ingrid frowned, clearly not liking the whole idea of being rescued by Dorothea or the other Eagles but having no other choice.  There was a moment of silence as the two of them stared off against each other. Dorothea watched as a lightbulb seemingly went off inside Ingrid’s head, the light of realization shining brightly through her facial expression. 

“Wait, where’s my father? Is he alright?”

“Uncle Ingvir? I saw him yesterday at dinner. Seemed stressed but fine to me. I didn’t see him at breakfast.” 

Ingrid stepped over the fallen body between them so that she was right in front of Dorothea now, gun and holster still in her hands. “The lawyer. Metodey said the lawyer was coming today. Shit.” Ingrid toed the side of the guard’s face with her shoe. “He’s really out cold. Shit. They're going to suspect something is up when they don’t see this guy out there.”

“That’s not a huge problem.” Dorothea tossed her hair over her shoulder flippantly. “I don’t know why you’re freaking out. Now let’s get you out of here.”

“I can’t.” Ingrid insisted. “They are on orders to kill my father and everyone else in this household if anything goes wrong. I’d say one of the guards going missing would be considered going wrong. If I went missing as well there’s no saying what might happen to everyone else here. There’s five guards to deal with plus Metodey-” Ingrid unholstered the gun and clicked open the cylinder of the gun with a deft motion, “- six bullets.”

“Oh please, you’re making a mountain of a molehill. You’re just going to get yourself shot at this rate. You watch over cankles,” Dorothea gestured at their guest taking an involuntary nap. “If you’re going to be foolish and not leave then you stay in this room. I’ll handle the guards and your  _ fiance _ . Then we can all leave and get on with our lives.” With that, Dorothea turned on her very pointed heel and headed for the door. 

Last she saw Byleth, it sounded like three guards had gone after her. That realistically left two guards roaming around the estate still. Given Byleth’s fighting prowess, Dorothea was going to assume that those guards had been handled- so she would still have Byleth’s backup.

“What? Dorothea! That’s crazy! They’re going to shoot at you and ask questions later!” 

“No, Ingrid. They’re going to shoot at  _ you _ and ask questions later. _ I’m _ just a helpless damsel in distress.”

* * *

  
  


The passageway was narrow and dusty- looking like nobody had even come down this way in a very long time. Byleth was sure that there were more entrance ways in and out of this passageway but none of them made themselves readily available to Byleth- more hidden panels and switches nonsense, Byleth surmised. 

There was no time to stop and try to locate one of those hidden switches. Figuring that she was far enough in the passageway that no additional guards would stumble in as well, Byleth took out one of the little gumballs from her pocket. 

This one was the colour of vomit.

The gumball broke open upon first contact with the floor and immediately a plume of putrid fog exploded into existence, rapidly filling the hallway.

Whatever Caspar had made was effective. Rancid, but effective.

Covering her mouth and nose with her sleeve, Byleth continued to run, satisfied with the coughing and gagging noises that now accompanied the slightly slower footsteps. Caspar’s gumball also had the pleasant effect of obscuring any line of sight that Metodey’s men might have had on her in the dim light.

As hard as Byleth tried, the darkness and seemingly random way that the passage turned and twisted made it difficult for her to pinpoint where exactly she was heading. Suddenly, the passage opened out to what seemed to be a storage space. 

A broken down table sat in the center of the space, surrounded by unsteadily stacked and leaning towers of junk. There was a door on the left and another on the right but what stood out the most was the gleaming metal door at the far end of the space. 

Well if there was any door that would withstand bullets, it would probably be the metal one. Surprisingly, the door opened smoothly and Byleth was greeted with a blast of stale and freezing air. Byleth had stumbled into an industrial sized walk in freezer.

With footsteps resounding loudly behind here, there was no time to think and Byleth ducked behind one of the large shelves in the room. Each of the shelves had a metal back panel, giving her some cover in the otherwise empty room. But if the mostly empty racks said anything, the freezer must have been installed during a time when the Galatea estate was a little more lively and a little more fond of parties. 

The footsteps paused as they entered the freezer and then began to split up, each taking an aisle. Byleth ducked behind the far edge of one of the shelves and held her breath, letting the little clouds that were her breath in this frigid room dissipate. She didn’t want to give away her position too early. 

Clad in only a thin button down and slacks, Byleth shivered. It was cold, but not intolerable. It would be wise to not dawdle in here too long.

The first man rounded the corner, gun drawn and Byleth was on top of him immediately. One hand went over his mouth so he couldn’t make noise and the other wrapped around the barrel of the gun, pushing it to the side. A hard knee into the abdomen made him loosen his grip on his rifle slightly. That was enough for Byleth to pull it back towards her and then drive the butt of the gun into his face. 

He went down like a sack of potatoes. 

Potatoes didn’t belong in the freezer, Byleth mused as she shoved his body to the side and ducked around the other side of the shelves. The other two were zeroing in on her position and she needed to make sure that they weren’t going to pincer her. She had to deal with them quickly too, the chill was really starting to set in.

The thin layer of frost on the floor was slick under her boots. Grabbing the edge of a shelf, Byleth used it to slide low to the ground around the corner, right into another one of the thugs. His ankle gave way with a sickening crack as the momentum of Byleth’s slide drove her foot into a relatively weak joint. The man was larger than Byleth thought, and even with one leg buckling beneath him, he was still a looming figure.

His yelp of pain was silenced as Byleth grabbed the last frozen leg of lamb on the shelf next to her and swung it at his head. 

Another one out cold. 

That left one more. Byleth returned the lamb leg to the shelf- it was quite hefty. With some potatoes and a little bit of herbs, maybe some fish on the side, it would be an excellent dinner. Oh, how she wanted a hot plate of food right now. Maybe Eleanor could reheat some of the leftovers from breakfast for her after this was all done.

The last man appeared at the end of the little aisle, gun raised and Byleth ducked behind the shelving again. She needed to get the drop on him. 

There was one set of shelves with the backing missing. If she could just- Byleth raced down the aisle on the opposite side and then doubled back down the aisle with the lamb leg. Gun still raised, the last man was carefully creeping down the aisle sweeping from side to side. Gripping the edge of the frozen shelf, Byleth swung herself through the space between the shelves out the other side.

Her feet caught the man in the chest, knocking him into the shelf. He was better trained than the first man that Byleth took down, not loosening his grip on the gun. That didn’t matter though. With one hand forcing the rifle to the side, Byleth unloaded the gun with a few deft movements of the other. 

The bullets clinked softly to the ground as Byleth turned the magazine upside down. Now the man just had a stick. 

His punches were sloppy, partially hampered by the cold. The first two blows bounced harmlessly off of Byleth’s forearm. The third one, Byleth caught. Tightening her grip on his hand, she shoulder tossed him with a mighty grunt.

The full weight of the man slamming into the floor was followed by a deafening crash from outside the freezer. Byleth ignored the noise for the moment in favour of pummelling the man’s face with a few sharp punches to ensure that he was really out.

In the silence, she could hear the sound of her pulse in her ears- a dull thudding. The low hum of the freezer running suddenly sounded very loud.

Byleth gave herself a moment just to catch her breath, dropping the man’s arm onto the floor. Alright, it was time to get out of here- Byleth’s shivering had really picked up another notch.

Her fingers were stiff against the circular handle of the freezer door. The handle gave way, unlatching the locking mechanism on the other side but the door didn’t give. Byleth put her shoulder to it, pushing harder. Unable to find any traction, her feet scrabbled uselessly against the frosty floor.

The door wouldn’t budge.

_ The crash from earlier.  _

The force of the man slamming into the floor- the commotion of the fight, it all must have disturbed the already precariously stacked junk on the other side of the door. Now the freezer door was blocked in.

She was blocked in.

The realization fell over her like a thick layer of snow sliding onto the ground with a heavy thwump.

The freezer walls suddenly seemed too close together. The air around her was pressing down on her chest. Every breath seemed like a gargantuan effort. A sharp spike of pain in her ribcage sent her crumbling to the floor as everything sunk in.

Gasping for air, Byleth double tapped the side of her glasses, hoping that the signal was strong enough to transmit through the freezer, hoping that the Eagles, Edelgard, would come to find her. There was nothing else she could do. She double tapped the side of her glasses again.  


Byleth was trapped.

* * *

Dorothea retreated to the room that she and Byleth shared to regroup with the other woman. Surprised that the room was empty, Dorothea began to rummage through her bag looking for a few things that she knew she packed. She had half expected to find Byleth in the room, lounging around.

No matter, she could fill Byleth in as they went along. There was no point in dilly dallying now.

The buzzing of her phone in her pocket made her pause.

_ “We lost Byleth.”  _

Edelgard’s voice over the phone sounded flat, distant. Dorothea could tell that she was stressed beyond belief but still trying to hold it together for the sake of the heist and the group. Their leader was beginning to shut down.

“What do you mean? How did you lose Byleth?” Dorothea took a deep breath, trying to steady her nerves. It wouldn’t help right now if she let herself be dragged into Edelgard’s rapidly spiralling mindset. 

_ “We are not sure,”  _ Hubert’s voice cut in,  _ “She went down that passageway and then the feeds cut out. I think the inner walls of the building are too thick. I'm picking up what might be her SOS signal but I'm going to need a minute to try to amplify it.”  _

“She hasn’t returned yet?” Dorothea turned sharply back to her bag again. 

Where was her refill for her ring? She had a feeling that she would be needing it again.

_ “Edelgard is keeping a close eye on her feed but so far nothing. But fortunately I haven’t been able to find any sign of the guards that followed Byleth. So that’s probably a good a sign.” _

Dorothea hummed triumphantly as she pulled the little vial from the bottom of the bag. With quick and well-practiced movements, the ring was filled again, not a single drop spilling over. Even though her hands were steady throughout this process, she could feel her heart hammering in her chest at a thousand miles per minute. 

With Byleth… indisposed at the moment- well there went whatever support Dorothea could immediately get.

_ “We have another issue. I have managed to track the Galateas’ lawyer. He is indeed on the way.” _

“How much time until he gets here?” 

_ “Half an hour.” _

“Half an hour?!” Dorothea nearly dropped the empty vial. That was hardly any time at all. “Can you stall him?”

_ “Don’t worry, darling. I’ll buy you all the time you’ll ever need.” _

“Ferdie,” Dorothea latched onto the familiar sound of the other grifter’s voice. She rubbed her temples. Her resolve was spiralling. “This is too much. There’s two armed guards and Metodey. There are so many lives on the line.”

_ “Dorothea, honey, darling, sweetheart. You are the only one for this job. This may be a lot, but has anything ever been too much for the Dorothea Arnault?” _

“Ferdie, I can’t do this by myself. I’m not-

_ “You are not what? You are Dorothea Arnault. That is who you are, who you have always been.” _

_ “Dorothea, listen to me.”  _ Edelgard had returned. Dorothea could only imagine her grabbing the phone from Ferdinand and Ferdinand’s pouty expression.  _ “If you do not want to do this, you do not have to. I will come up with another plan. You can pull the plug on this right now and walk away, there will be no judgment on our end.” _

That made Dorothea frown. They always had a choice. One of the things that Edelgard had always made clear to them that no matter what they did, they were always free to get out. Even if Dorothea had a choice… could she really just walk away from this? She could lock herself in this room and just ride it out. 

She could.

Dorothea would never though. Dorothea Arnault would never.

_ “We will come and get you.”  _ Edelgard continued, undeterred by Dorothea’s sudden and extended silence.

_ We will come and get you. _

Those words echoed inside Dorothea’s head the same way that a crystal clear note from a bell would linger. A single note that started small and emanated until her entire body was humming in resonances.

Maybe that’s what she was always forgetting with the Black Eagles. She could leave the Black Eagles at any time, but the Black Eagles would never leave her. Even now, alone in the Galatea estate without any immediate support, she wasn’t truly alone.

Turning on her heel, Dorothea caught a glimpse of herself in the floor length mirror on the far side of the room. A tall and confident woman stared back at her. She raised her chin defiantly, in challenge. 

Deep down, Dorothea knew that she had looked like this for a while now but it felt like she was really seeing herself for the first time. She was going to go out there and  _ pretend _ to be that helpless damsel in distress. If she had to  _ pretend _ to do it that meant that that wasn’t who she was.

Dorothea Arnault was no longer the helpless little girl on the street- terrified of strangers and where her next meal would come from. Dorothea Arnault wasn’t the damsel in distress-chasing the moving spotlight of the theater, clinging to the closing curtains and wondering how much longer she would have a roof above her head. Dorothea Arnault wasn’t the same broken hearted young grifter, unsure of where to go, lost in a world that seemed too big and far too distant, too alone.

Dorothea Arnault was a Black Eagle.

She was Dorothea Arnault. 

At the end of the day, even if there wasn’t a nest lined with black feathers to return to, she was still Dorothea Arnault.

She squared her shoulders, drawing herself up to her full height and applied a fresh coat of her favourite lipstick. Her form fitting dress and lengthy heels cut her an imposing figure. 

Dorothea Arnault smiled at herself in the mirror.

“You can stall the lawyer all you like, Ferdie.” Dorothea blew her reflection a kiss. “I’ll only need twenty minutes.”

  
  


* * *

  
  


The first guard that Dorothea encountered was standing at the end of her hallway. Scuffed boots, ill fitting jeans, and a ragged button down shirt that had far too many buttons undone.

He stared as she approached him. So that was the kind of person he was.

Dorothea giggled and waved at him flirtatiously as she neared. He leered openly at her, jaw agape- any lower and he would have to pick it up off the floor. It didn’t matter though, Dorothea had dealt with her fair share of men like this. Armed or not, they would be eating out of the palm of her hand in no time.

“Hi there!” She chirped, putting on her sunniest disposition as she stopped just outside of his arm’s reach.

His slimy gaze slid down her form like rain off of the back of a duck. She let it roll off of her with a look of politeness, just bordering on disinterest, letting him know that he was going to have to work harder if he wanted to keep her attention. 

This man was right where she wanted him, pinned to the wall by knives he had yet to even realize were present.    
  


“Do you know where the ballroom is? I can’t seem to find my way there. I wanted to go look at the wedding decorations!” Dorothea batted her eyelashes at him for extra effect. 

“Is just downstairs and to the left. Past the big piece of art that's just a bunch of squares. But the wedding is gonna be in the garden. Boss said is nicer there.” 

  
The moment that he opened his mouth to speak, Dorothea recoiled back from him slightly with a pained smile and a slight wrinkle to her nose. 

“Oh, that’s where it is!” Dorothea chittered, leaning further back from the man while she dug through the clutch on her arm for a second. Triumphantly, she pulled out a little round tin that rattled loudly as she held it out. “Can I offer you a mint?” 

The tone of Dorothea’s voice left no room for argument. She was offering, but he was going to take the mint.

The man looked down at the little round white candies sitting in the tin. “Oh.”

Dorothea looked at him expectantly, eyebrows raised faintly. She shook the tin a little bit again, indicating that he should take one. 

“Ah yes. Will have a mint.” He reached into the tin and delicately plucked one out, popping it into his mouth with much gusto. The mint crunched under his teeth as Dorothea looked on, smiling sweetly. 

A beat passed as he finished the mint. Unsteadily, he swayed on his feet and within seconds, he was flat on the floor. 

“Didn’t your parents ever tell you that you shouldn’t take candy from a stranger?”Dorothea smiled at his unconscious form and pulled the gun off of him. 

While she didn’t really have any knowledge on the inner workings of the gun, she knew enough to remove the magazine and empty the bullets out the nearby window and into the flower bed below. After a moment of thought, she dragged his body into an empty room that hadn’t been used in a while and closed the door. There, now the staff wouldn’t be stumbling upon downed guards and raising unnecessary panic.

Dorothea dusted her hands off with a small sense of satisfaction. It was rare that Dorothea got to do something like this on a heist. Usually heists called her to be the distraction, the bait. She had forgotten how fun this could be.

That was one down. Two more to go.

Dorothea strode down the stairs with the air of a tiger stalking her prey.

Fortunately, she didn’t have to go far. The second guard stood by the front door, peering out into the courtyard on occasion through the front window. 

He gave her a curt nod as she passed him, heading towards the ballroom. Other than that though, no other interaction, no lingering gaze, no lecherous smile. Different approaches for different folks, Dorothea surmised as she crossed the foyer into the next hallway. 

The inordinately large painting of what did appear to be a series of squares hung on the wall next to a grand set of double doors led. The painting was on the same side of the hallway that the guard was on, giving Dorothea a bit of a blind spot to act in. She rapped a finger gently against the frame. It was solid, sturdy- and would definitely survive a fall. 

Maybe this guard could resist a pretty girl, but Dorothea had a feeling that he would come running for a damsel in distress. Now she wanted to keep his hands away from his gun, just in case.   
  


The painting was mounted on two hooks and it took almost all of her strength to lift the painting off of one hook. The other hook groaned with the full weight of the painting, bending downwards until the painting hit the ground with a mighty thump.

Dorothea yelped in surprise, leaping back away from the painting dramatically. Just as she had thought, the guard came running, gun at the ready. 

“What happened?” He approached cautiously as if expecting someone to jump out from behind a closed door at any moment.

“The p-painting!” Dorothea sniffled, tears beading at the corners of her eyes, “I was only looking at it and then it fell down! Uncle Ingvir is going to be so upset with me!” 

With a muffled wail, Dorothea buried her face in her hands and began to cry.

“Uh well the painting doesn’t look damaged. The hook is just bent out of shape. Here we’ll get it back on the wall.” 

Dorothea peeked through her fingers to see the man mangle the hook back into functional shape and then with a mighty grunt, heft the painting back into place. He looked harried, clearly thrown off by the presence of a girl suddenly bursting into tears. Then he began the painstaking process of dragging the painting up and down the wall, trying to get the hooks to catch the latch in the back of the painting.

While he was preoccupied with the painting, Dorothea strode up to him, needle drawn, and stabbed him in the back of the neck with her ring. 

“Ow! What-” Hands full with the painting, the man slumped forward helplessly- unable to reach for his gun before the poison took effect.

Dorothea poked him in the side with the toe of her shoe and he fell over with a soft thump, unconscious. Satisfied, Dorothea got to work removing the magazine from his rifle as well. It took a minute for her to figure out how to remove this one but she hid it in a decorative vase. The body, she dragged into the unused parlour next to the ballroom, laying the man on a thick layer of dust. as she made her way back down the hallway. 

Only ten minutes had passed since she had left her room. Ten minutes would be plenty to handle Metodey. Daintly, she touched up her makeup with the polished surface of a nearby marble statue. 

It seemed fitting that Metodey would be her final course, she mused as she stalked her way deeper into the house. It was time to give the man of the hour a ring.

There was some hurried searching involved, Dorothea surreptitiously checking on each of the rooms that she thought Metodey would be in. Unfortunately most of the rooms that she checked were empty. 

There was one room that Dorothea hadn’t paid much attention to when she had been at the Galatea estate last. The security room was hardly ever in use- the video feeds linked directly to Uncle Ingvir’s tablet and desktop computer in his study, so there was never really a need. If Dorothea recalled correctly, it was the small room at the end of the hallway from the dining room. 

Heels clicking loudly against the floor, Dorothea made no effort in hiding the fact that she was coming down the hallway toward the security room. She didn’t want Metodey to feel like she was sneaking up on him. With all these armed guards around, it was clear that he was afraid of something, paranoid even. The last thing that Dorothea wanted was for him to go from paranoid to trigger-happy.

The sound of her approach was like an unexpected doorbell at a home where a child was currently home alone. Metodey peeked out of the doorway cautiously, just his eyes and the top of his head visible. Upon seeing Dorothea however, he relaxed and sauntered out to the middle of the hallway to meet her.

“What brings you all the way over here?” Metodey asked in lieu of a greeting. He smirked up at her, rocking back onto the heels of his feet so he didn’t actually have to tilt his head upwards. The gum in his mouth snapped loudly.

Well there went the mint idea.

“Just wanted to see the view of the garden from here.” Dorothea gestured at the set of double doors that opened out onto a balcony diagonally across from where they were standing. “I think the view here tonight with the setting sun would be beautiful for a few pictures, maybe some wine or champagne. My darling, Cara, does love champagne.”

Something flashed across Metodey’s face, so quickly that Dorothea knew that someone less wise to the way human beings worked might have missed it or misinterpreted it. 

Irritation. 

Frustration.

Dorothea gave him a very obvious once over with an exaggerated motion as she rummaged through her clutch.

Metodey gave her a questioning glare in return.

“You look like a well cultured man,” Dorothea commented finally as she pulled out the little spray bottle. She gave a few spritz of the liquid into the air between them. “What are your thoughts on this scent? I’m trying to figure which one would be best to give Cara for our next anniversary.”

“I am a well cultured man,” Metodey replied smugly.

Dorothea resisted the urge to vomit. “Well, I would be honoured to have your opinion then.” She twirled a strand of her hair in her fingers as she gave a few more spritz of the perfume into the air at Metodey.

Coughing, he fanned himself, trying to clear the air of the strong scent. “It's very nice. Earthy notes are subtle.”

He had absolutely no idea what he was talking about. Dorothea plastered on her sweetest smile, nodding like Metodey had just said something profound. From the way that his gaze drifted to the side, glazing over ever so slightly, Dorothea knew that the poison was already taking effect. 

Taking a lungful of this poison would have him on the floor soon. Not the most optimal way that Dorothea liked to go about something like this but this would have to do.

His eyes bulged out of its sockets almost comically as he gaped at Dorothea, mind too slow to properly even string together all the thoughts into coherent pieces of information. His motor skills weren’t as slow though as he went for the gun at his hip. His other hand flailed at the opposite hip. The poison wasn’t acting as fast as she wanted it seemed. 

Dorothea beat him to the gun, nails digging into the back of his hand as her other hand clapped over the holster, rendering the gun ineffective. 

“Dorothea!” 

Startled, Dorothea turned over her shoulder at the sound of the familiar voice. Ingrid stood at the end of the hallway, eyes wide and the gun stolen from the other guard pointed at Metodey.

The next thing that Dorothea heard was a gunshot.

There was no blossom of pain and in the chaos of the moment, Dorothea could not even be sure that she had been shot. So instead, she soldiered past the shock- the shock of the loud noise, the shock protecting her body from pain to wrestle the second gun from Metodey’s other hand. It seemed to only hold one shot anyway, at least Dorothea had that going for her.

Metodey collapsed backwards, hitting the ground with a loud thunk as he finally succumbed to the effects of the poison. Dorothea allowed herself to breathe out a sigh of relief. Now that that unpleasant business was over with-

“D-Dorothea…” the pained sound of Ingrid’s voice made Dorothea turn sharply. 

“Ingrid, I told you to stay put!” Dorothea growled in frustration. 

Ingrid.

Dorothea rushed over to her ex’s side. Ingrid was on her knees, holding herself up against the wall while her other hand clutched at her side. A dark red was beginning to seep through the gaps between Ingrid’s fingers.

That one shot that Metodey managed to fire.

“You absolute idiot!” Dorothea rolled Ingrid over so she was laying down. 

Ingrid groaned lowly, the sound weak and raspy but otherwise did not resist the motion.

The Galatea estate prided itself on being an isolated haven in the middle of nowhere- the dream for nature enthusiasts and people who wanted away from the busyness of civilization without being away from the comforts of modern technology. This unfortunately worked against their favour right now. 

“Stay with me Ingrid,” Dorothea pressed a hand over top of the wound as Ingrid’s hand slid from her side weakly. It took her another moment to fumble for the phone in her clutch, hitting the number one on the speed dial. 

The phone barely even rang once before Edelgard picked up,  _ “We’re here, we’re here. Hang tight.”  _

Somewhere in the distance, Dorothea heard the front door slam open. Eleanor’s voice followed shortly, then Ingvir’s. Panic and fear ringing clearly through the household. After being surrounded by armed men for so long, it was still startling to actually hear a gunshot go off.

_ “Linhardt is on his way up. Bernadetta and Caspar are going to handle the staff.”  _

“And the lawyer?” Dorothea asked breathlessly. Her mind raced, trying to find something beyond the slippery feeling of blood beneath her palm to ground herself with. She was seconds away from panicking herself, and that would do nobody any good if she did that.

_ “Ferdinand and Hubert have it handled, don’t worry.”  _

“How long until Lin gets here?” Dorothea asked through gritted teeth as she pressed harder against the wound. 

Ingrid gasped in response to the increased pressure. Her eyes were glazed over, brow knitted together in pain. While she didn’t look like she was doing well, at the very least she was still responsive.

“I’m right here.” Linhardt’s voice sliding in beside Dorothea, knees thunking clumsily against the hardwood floor. A heavy duffel bag which Dorothea recognized as his personal first aid kit landed on the ground beside him. “I’ll take over from here. You’re going to need to help locate-” Linhardt glanced down at Ingrid, ”Cara.” 

Linhardt pulled a copious amount of gauze from the bag, relieving Dorothea from keeping pressure on the wound.

“But-”

“I have a medical degree. You know this building well. Would you rather I go help locate Cara instead?” Linhardt shot her a withering look that left her no room for question. “The sooner we get everyone, the quicker we get out of here.” He tossed her a towel from the bag as he continued pulling more things from its seemingly never ending depths, “Better get cleaned up.”

Dorothea took the towel reluctantly and stood back up. She hated when Linhardt was logical and right. “You better not die here, Ingrid. There are still some things I need to settle with you.”

Ingrid’s eyes fluttered weakly, fighting a losing battle against the pull of unconsciousness. 

“Hurry up and go Dorothea!” Linhardt all but shoulder checked her out of the way and put his own body between Dorothea and Ingrid, blocking her line of sight. His lips were drawn into a tense line as he continued to work on Ingrid. There was a grim determination in his eyes that Dorothea didn’t know what to do with.

Dorothea did the only thing that she could think of. She placed her trust into Linhardt’s hands, into the Black Eagles’ hands and left, headed back for the passageway where she had last seen Byleth.

* * *

  
“You doing okay?” Edelgard asked as Dorothea finally caught up with her in front of the portraits of Sir Bark and Lady Purrsephone. This was one of the last clear images that they received from Byleth’s glasses cam. Much to Edelgard’s chagrin, the video feed itself fizzled out into static after that. 

Dorothea smiled tiredly at her, “I’ve never been better, but also worse. It's a lot, honestly. I’m not sure how I feel about it.” Without even really looking, Dorothea pressed down on the hidden switch like she had done this a thousand times.

“Let’s wrap this up and then you can decide how you feel about it in the comfort of home.” Edelgard replied tersely.

The hidden door swung open silently, the dimly lit tunnel seemingly stretching on forever. Edelgard grimaced at the sight of it. This tunnel felt too dark and too narrow but Edelgard stepped forward into them all the same. She couldn’t falter now, no matter how much this place reminded her of a darker time.

Byleth was somewhere in here. Edelgard had to find her.

Dorothea stepped through after her, and neither of them had taken more than a few steps in when the smell hit them. It was like sewage and rotten eggs all mixed into one terrible smell. Immediately, they covered their nose and mouth. 

“Caspar’s new gadget is certainly  _ effective _ .” Edelgard whispered. 

Based on the way that Byleth’s SOS signal had activated and then reactivated and then reactivated at semi-regular intervals, Edelgard figured that the guards had been dealt with but Byleth had somehow become indisposed in the process. And while she had no doubts about Byleth’s ability to handle herself in combat, their stealthy approach was just a cautionary measure.

“Unfortunately so.” Dorothea whispered back as they forged on ahead, their progress slow as they moved as quietly as possible.

The passageway turned sharply at an odd angle once, and then a few moments later, again. Dorothea ushered Edelgard forward, ignoring the other doors that appear along the way as they followed the stench deeper along.

Edelgard fought the urge to run back the way they came, back into the open. She did not like it in here.

The feeling of Dorothea’s elbow nudging hers drew her back out of her head. Dorothea pointed to a small off-green splat on the floor. The stench seemed to be emanating from here.

“We’re going in the right direction.” Was all Edelgard could offer, her voice threatening to waver even with those few quiet words. 

Dorothea nodded and allowed Edelgard to take the lead again, unsure of what else they might encounter. Thankfully, the passageway opened up to a large space filled with junk. It was rapidly obvious what the issue was.

The metallic glint of the walk-in freezer door was barely visible through the haphazard pile of boxes and other pieces of junk that had fallen over.

Edelgard rushed up to the door, kicking boxes and bits of broken furniture out of the way. Dorothea hurried to help her with the door, moving an old vacuum that had seen much better days to the side. 

“Ugh, Uncle Ingivir never wants to throw things out.” Dorothea groused as she pushed aside another box. 

With a grunt, Edelgard grabbed the handle of the door and pulled with all her might, ignoring the rest of the junk and using the door itself to sweep the boxes aside. The harsh sound things scraping against the floor sounded incredibly distant to Edelgard. Nothing else mattered, just the immediate relief of Byleth spilling forward out of the freezer with the opening of the door.

“...Edelgard...?” Byleth whispered in a daze. Her confused gaze seemed to look past Edelgard, at some point above Edelgard’s head. Her skin was pale, freezing to the touch and she shivered violently in Edelgard’s arms.

“Byleth? Hey, hey, hey. Come on you gotta stay with me.” Edelgard scrambled to pick up the other woman, holding her close so that some of Edelgard’s body heat could start to warm her up. Had she always felt this fragile?  


"The other guards are in here." Dorothea called out from inside the freezer. 

"We'll come back for them!"

“...ice fishing..” Byleth mumbled into the side of Edelgard’s neck. Her head lolled back against Edelgard’s shoulder, glasses askew.  


“What?” Edelgard panted. She was only dimly aware of Dorothea following behind her as they ran back the way they came. Byleth wasn’t making any sense.

“...chest hurts…” Byleth mumbled disjointedly again.

Edelgard rounded the next corner and allowed Dorothea to run ahead of her to open the hidden door again. Her mind had narrowed to the pinprick of light at the end of the tunnel that was pressing in around her- she had to get Byleth out of here. She needed Byleth to be safe.

“Okay, we’re going to get you some help. You have to stay with me.” Edelgard said to the limp form in her arms. 

There was no response. 

“Byleth?”

Edelgard glanced down at the face buried into the space between her neck and shoulder. Byleth’s bright blue eyes had drifted closed, long lashes coated with a thin layer of frost. 

“Byleth!” 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late chapter! its been a hectic little while and this chapter really took longer than I thought it would.
> 
> Byleth's fake name is a one of the fish in the FE3H game lmao (Did I mention this? I can't remember, its been a while.) 
> 
> While the entirety of this arc isn't quite complete, the bulk of it is done and I'm proud of my girl, Dorothea for all that she has gone through.
> 
> I'm gonna be going on hiatus for a bit as we near finals season and my marking load increases and also holiday season where I really shouldn't be hiding away at my keyboard all day. Quarantine season has made things difficult for work and such and I might even be writing. Ideally I'd like to write some kind of holiday chapter for this but we'll see how much time I have. (Also there's a pile of one shots I'd like to take a crack at just to reboot the old creativity brain- I think my brain has been hyperfocused on this fic for too long it just needs a little change of pace to get back into it) 
> 
> You can find me over on twitter at bardigrade if you wanna come scream about things with me. I'll probably be posting little progress updates and what not there as well if you're interested. 
> 
> Thank you for sticking with these thieves and I for this long and we'll be back soon! Thank you for reading! As always, kudos and comments are much appreciated! 
> 
> Stay safe out there and see you soon! <3


	22. Lorenz

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath of the Galatea heist. 
> 
> Hubert is dragged along by Ferdinand to exact his revenge in a petty but unrelated incident.

Edelgard sat silently in the dingy hospital waiting room.The remnants of half a dozen paper cups sat on the chair next to her in a pile. She had systematically shredded each cup out of nervousness and fear. Every now and then, she would get up and get a cup of water from the water cooler at the far end, return to her seat and sip at the cool water until the cup was empty. Then each cup turned into little strips and then smaller strips, until her fingers physically couldn’t tear the little pieces. 

The cool water sat like a brick in the pit of her stomach. By the time the water had warmed to something less heavy, Edelgard was getting up to get another cup.

How many hours had gone by?

Edelgard could still remember the feeling of Byleth’s freezing form against hers. The violent shivers, confused mumbling, the way that Byleth drifted in and out of a haze- all of it terrified Edelgard to a degree that she hadn’t felt in a long time. Even under the foil blanket that got wrapped around the two of them, pulling Edelgard’s warmth into closer proximity with Byleth- Edelgard felt every shiver, every tremble.

Had Byleth always seemed this frail? This small? This delicate?

The ensuing chaos of the aftermath at the Galatea estate seemed so long ago now. Sylvain pulling up, nearly ramming through the front gates that opened too slowly for his liking with his bright blue SUV. The air ambulance that followed shortly behind. Caspar rushing out to the helicopter with Ingrid in his arms as a bloodied Linhardt hurried behind him, for once he didn’t seem disgruntled at the quick pace that Caspar set. 

Linhardt had ushered Edelgard onto the helicopter as well, setting her up with a foil blanket and strict instructions to keep Byleth warm after he gave both of them a quick once over. Edelgard knew that Linhardt’s instructions were more to keep her occupied doing something, helping out in some way so that she didn’t begin spiralling. Even with that knowledge, Edelgard was grateful all the same. 

They flew Charndl- the closest major city to the remote Galatea estate, just over the area border into Charon. It was too far of a journey to head back to Arianrhod at this point but Linhardt assured Edelgard that he knew a few people here in Charndl and would personally ensure that everything would be taken care of.

Still, the entire situation stressed Edelgard out to no end. Especially when they whisked Byleth off deeper into the hospital to get treated. 

The buzzing of Edelgard’s phone brought her out of her trance. 

It was Dorothea. She had stayed behind to handle the aftermath- unfortunately the helicopter couldn’t accommodate all of them, and was now texting to see if there was any updates.

_ / / E: No news yet.  _

_ / / D: Have you seen Lin at all? _

_ / / E: No. _

_ / / D: If he’s busy that’s a good sign… I think. _

Edelgard sighed, unsure whether that could be taken as such. 

But like he had somehow heard their texts, Linhardt finally reappeared, dressed in a fresh set of clothes. 

“She’s stable. I wanted to run a few extra tests just to be sure. I’m going to have a conversation with Ferdinand about adjusting her diet-” Linhardt cast one look at Edelgard’s concerned expression, bordering on panic. “She’s just a little vitamin D deficient. It’s nothing to worry about. You can go in to see her if you like. She’s stable but she’s still asleep.” 

It felt like a giant weight just dissipated from her shoulders, stable was good, stable was excellent. “And Ingrid?” Edelgard bit her lower lip with a furrow of her brows. She should text Dorothea back with some kind of an update now that she had Linhardt here.

Linhardt frowned. “Still in surgery. The bullet wasn’t a through and through. Removing it is always tricky.”

“Oh, you didn’t want to do the surgery yourself?” The words were out of her mouth before Edelgard even realized it. She winced internally, clearly the exhaustion was beginning to set in if she was making basic blunders like this.

This didn’t seem to phase Linhardt though, he shrugged nonchalantly. “Not my place. I might know people here but it would be rude for me to take over their surgeries too. Surgeons are some of the proudest people I know.”

Edelgard nodded slowly, thankful that LInhardt had seemingly taken her out of character question in stride. “Do-”

“If you are about to ask me if I miss being a doctor and a surgeon, I will tell you that I do not.” Linhardt fixed her with a steely look, slightly irritated and tired. 

Her jaw clicked shut audibly, Linhardt read her like an open book this time. “No, I was going to ask you if you thought that Byleth would be okay.” Edelgard recovered hastily.

Linhardt yawned, it was astonishing how he could make such a simple action be filled with such disbelief. “I said stable, didn’t I?”

“Right, right.”

“I think you should get some rest.”

“Okay.” Edelgard acquiesced despite knowing full well that she wasn’t going to be getting any kind of rest until she was absolutely certain things, certain people- Byleth, was going to be okay.

* * *

  
  


Byleth slept fitfully. 

Was she even asleep? It was hard to tell. 

Smoke and fire surrounded her. 

She couldn’t be asleep. She should be running. She had to get away. The heat of the flames was so close that she could feel it searing into her skin. 

The smoke formed this dense smog before her, obscuring any chance at finding some kind of an escape. It filled her lungs, forcing her into a coughing fit as she tried to keep moving forwards.

Moving?   
  


The idea seemed foreign to her. It was as if she suddenly gained bodily awareness. Where was she? There was fire and smoke but where was she?

Any air that she had managed to draw in with that lungful of smoke was immediately knocked out of her by a heavy pressure on her back- no it was all around her. She was lying face down in the dark. Concrete and metal groaned and crumbled. 

Byleth knew exactly where she was.

She could save him. This time she could save him. If she could just shake off this rubble, crawl through the concrete towards him, she could definitely save him. If she was just stronger, she would be able to reach him.

There was a series of explosions in the distance. The rubble dug in harder against her skin, tearing at her flesh as she struggled to move. Byleth screamed, the sound tearing out of her throat- frustration and fear rolling off of her in waves. 

The feeling threatened to drown her in its ferocity, tossing her like a paper boat in the face of the entire ocean. It felt like she was a small child again with a storm raging outside her window, shaking the whole house. However, there was nobody there to reassure her that everything would be okay. Nobody was there to hold her and comfort her-

A sudden warmth that blossomed across the surface of her skin, spreading like a wildfire until Byleth felt like she was buoyed above the waves, above the storm, on a gentle breeze. The warmth wrapped around her, drawing her close. The winds whispered indistinguishable words of soft comfort, lulling her with the hushed tones.

Byleth didn’t remember much else after that, the terror and pain forgotten, lost in a quiet peace.

* * *

  
  


It was dark when Byleth woke up. The room that she laid in was unfamiliar to her, but after a moment, she realized that it was a standard hospital room. Uncomfortable bed, very harsh white light filtering in from underneath the closed door, cheap plastic chair at her bedside. The only thing that made it more familiar was the comforting presence curled against Byleth’s side, wrapped tightly around her. 

The sight of Edelgard- exhausted but tired, clinging to Byleth like a little koala might was enough to make Byleth smile. Carefully, Byleth extricated the slightly scratchy blanket from between her and Edelgard so that she could wrap the smaller woman into its warmth as well. Immediately, Edelgard twined her legs with Byleth’s bare ones. The difference in temperature made her hiss softly under her breath, not expecting the chill at all. 

The sound was enough to make Edelgard stir from her sleep, blinking sleepily up at Byleth.

“By...leth?” She asked slowly, as if unsure if she was still dreaming or not. 

Byleth smiled gently in return.

“Oh. You’re awake! I should fetch a doctor.” Edelgard began to scramble out of bed sheepishly but Byleth maintained her grip around Edelgard’s midsection, preventing her from leaving.

“I’m fine. I would like us to keep sleeping though, if that’s okay?” 

Edelgard was so close that Byleth could practically count each of her eyelashes, count the worries that hid in her eyes. The feeling of warmth in her chest drew her even closer to Edelgard. Impulse and instinct made her hover, just a heartbeat between them.

“You are sure that you are feeling okay?” Edelgard frowned at Byleth, carefully scrutinizing her expression for any sign of discomfort.

“Yes-” 

Dim light streamed in through the window from the street lamps in the parking lot. In that almost hazy glow, Byleth swore that there were tears collecting in the corners of Edelgard’s eyes.

“-are you okay? You’re crying.” Byleth reached out, gently swiping a thumb at that outer corner. Her thumb didn’t come away wet,  _ per se _ , but suspiciously damp. 

“I don’t cry,” Edelgard sniffled. “The girl who cries died a long time ago.” 

“Will you tell me what is wrong then?” Byleth relented, pulling back a little bit to get a better look at Edelgard’s face. As nice as this up close view was, it was easier to get a read on the other woman if she had the whole picture. 

“I’m just relieved that you are okay,” Edelgard’s voice was small and muffled against the collar of Byleth’s hospital gown. “You scared me.”

“I apologize.” Byleth whispered, letting this moment hang between them. The dull ache in her chest pulled at her again. “Edelgard?”

“Hmm?”

Byleth leaned closer, their breaths intermingling with each other. “May I kiss you?” She didn’t know what prompted those words, but she felt lighter now. The dull ache in her chest ebbed, satiated. 

Edelgard exhaled sharply, eyes searching Byleth’s expression carefully as well, like her mind was still muddled and out of it. But Byleth’s eyes shone brightly, a faint smile quirking the corners of her lips upward ever so slightly. 

In lieu of an answer, Edelgard leaned up ever so slightly, pressing her lips up against Byleth’s.

It was nothing like anyone else had ever described. There was no big aha moment, no lightning strike from nowhere. Just chapped lips, gentle fingers and plausibly deniable tears that would not be mentioned. Even with all that, it felt right. 

Byleth sighed into the kiss, pulling Edelgard even closer, the world faded into the background. They might be in a hospital bed right now, but the familiarity of each other’s presence, the comfort of each other’s presence- it was all perfect.

* * *

  
  


Hubert came out of his room to find Ferdinand sulking in the living room. Caspar and Linhardt sat at the kitchen counter, eating a late breakfast together. 

“What is it, Ferdinand.” Hubert sighed.

Ferdinand simply grunted and turned to face the opposite wall. 

Hubert rolled his eyes, and looked over at Caspar and Linhardt. Both of them glanced over at Hubert and shrugged. So it was one of those moods. 

“I guess the cooler of fresh sea urchin that just came in will have to go to someone else.” Hubert called out casually, stepping around the counter to begin his coffee. There was a bag of new beans in his cabinet that he was itching to try. Now where were they- people kept moving things around in  _ his _ cabinet and it was beginning to irritate him.

“You will not!” 

Hubert suddenly found himself hip checked out of the way as Ferdinand took over the search of the coffee beans. Not even a moment later, Ferdinand reappeared from the depths of the cabinet with the said bag of beans- how did he even know which bag Hubert had been looking for? 

Ferdinand turned deftly on his heel and began gathering the various supplies needed to make coffee. Linhardt raised his eyebrows faintly at Hubert, throwing a pointed look between him and Ferdinand. Usually, Hubert would insist on making his own coffee, but given the current state that Ferdinand was in, he thought it would probably be better just to let the man do as he wished.

Goddess knew how Ferdinand would get if he was just left to stew in his own sulkiness. So Hubert settled in on a barstool away from Caspar and Linhardt, who retreated to other parts of the Black Eagle homebase as soon as they finished eating- Caspar took some prodding on Linhardt’s part but quickly got the signal. 

“Are you going to tell me what’s wrong?” Hubert asked once he was sure there were no prying ears around.

The kitchen echoed with the constant drip drip drip of the coffee emptying into Hubert’s mug. Ferdinand huffed loudly, leaning heavily on the counter and staring at the slowly draining mix of coffee and coffee grounds sitting in the filter.

“Ferdinand.” Hubert’s voice dropped lower, growing stern at Ferdinand’s lack of response.

“It’s gone. All gone. My beloveds…” Ferdinand mumbled at Hubert's coffee, who was most decidedly not Hubert.

“What’s gone? You are going to have to give me more details. I assure you that I will be able to recover anything that you are missing.” Hubert frowned. He wasn’t aware of any break ins or thefts around the base- the other Black Eagles knew better than to mess with each other’s belongings like this.

“I had a very special shipment coming in. Everything was all planned out and signed for, and when I went to go pick it up- the seller informed me that someone else had beaten me to the punch, masquerading as me and stealing my shipment out from underneath me!  _ My shipment!” _

Ferdinand’s outburst left him red in the face, a loss of composure that Hubert had not witnessed before. The grifter was a master at keeping his cool, showing only what he wanted other people to see, what he thought other people would like to see. Whatever had happened clearly got under his skin, to a degree that Hubert was hesitant to even measure.

“I will need more details than that. Do you know who is responsible?” The sharp click of Hubert’s trusty phone unlocking accented his question. Fingers flying over the little keyboard, Hubert was certain he could make the responsible party suffer.

The other man didn’t appear to hear him though, continuing on with his outburst unheeded.

“I had great plans for that shipment! It was going to be a grand party, I would brew the finest teas, there would be little scones and finger sandwiches-”

“Ferdinand, I don’t understand.” Hubert interrupted, holding his hand up and rubbing his temples with the other. “You must slow down.”

“I ordered a shipment of tea. The  _ finest _ tea. But Lorenz Gloucester cut in before I got there and stole it from under me!” 

Hubert stared blankly at Ferdinand for a long moment, his mind only now processing what Ferdinand was upset over. The phone fell to the counter with a clatter, and the noise jolted the hacker out of his shocked silence. Hastily, Hubert recovered his beloved phone, checking it over for any new scratches or cracks as a result of the drop to the counter. Satisfied to find that his phone was unharmed, Hubert returned his attention upwards, only to find Ferdinand’s pout was now directed at him.

“What is it?”

“ _ Lorenz Gloucester!” _

“I don’t know what you want me to do, Ferdinand.”

“ _ Revenge. _ ”

* * *

  
  


_ “Hubert, just humour the man. Ferdinand has been under a lot of stress lately. If getting revenge on Lorenz will make him feel better than just go along with it. Claude is hardly going to care as long as you don’t cause any bodily harm.”  _

“It’s the principle of the matter, Edelgard.” Hubert grumbled. He was feeling the beginnings of a headache behind his eyes.

While Ferdinand did seem more revitalized at the notion of revenge, and that Hubert would also be his partner in crime in such an endeavour, Hubert was staunchly opposed to such foolishness.

_ “Hubert, are you afraid that Lorenz and whatever security system is going to get the best of you?”  _

Byleth’s voice sounded distant over the phone, but Hubert could pick up distinct tones of amusement. Of course Edelgard had this call on speakerphone. The two of them had been pretty much inseparable since Byleth had been released from the hospital in Charndl and returned to the Black Eagles base in Arianrhod, practically moving into Edelgard’s room. Linhardt requested that Byleth rest and take it easy for the next little while and Edelgard was doing her best to make sure that she was following the doctor’s orders.

Edelgard hadn’t been this happy in a very long time and Hubert was pleased that things seemed to be working out okay between the two of them. He wondered briefly when they would about  _ that _ . But  _ that _ was not his business.

He wasn’t about to let a throwaway challenge get to him- even if Lorenz did have a state of the art security system that Hubert had yet to find the opportunity to crack.

“Oh Huuuuubert!” Ferdinand poked his head into Hubert’s room, cheeks a rosy pink that showed he had been  _ very _ busy in the brief moments Hubert had returned to his room to make this call. “Caspar has agreed to fly a plane out to Lake Teutates for us.”

“What is in Lake Teutates?” Hubert asked slowly, already afraid of the answer.

“Lorenz has a vacation home there, and I have it on good word that he will be spending the next few weeks there.” 

“And what will we be doing there?” 

“I told you! Revenge!” Ferdinand said with a devious smirk that looked very out of place on his expression.

_ “Do you think they will be okay?”  _ Byleth’s voice mused out loud through Hubert’s still connected phone call that had been interrupted.

He could hear Edelgard trying her best not to laugh too loudly,  _ “I think Hubert might enjoy this more than he will admit.” _

* * *

  
  


Ferdinand brought an entire rolling tote of ‘things’ that was necessary for his revenge. He wouldn’t tell Hubert what the tote contained, only that everything was absolutely necessary. The items in said tote also clattered and rolled around suspiciously, making Hubert eye the piece of luggage like one would if they knew that it was full of rotting eggs.

The man was practically bouncing off the interior of the plane with excitement. The prospect of getting his revenge over something as silly and petty as a shipment of tea was clearly getting to him. Even in the car, he drove like a maniac- swerving around slow cars and running every yellow light.

Hubert remained silent for the entire time, busy on his phone and laptop. Given Ferdinand’s frantic state, Hubert figured the man wasn’t going to be too keen on waiting around in front of Lorenz’s house while Hubert disabled the security system. It was better to pre-emptively have the house open and ready for vengeance.

Fingers flying across his laptop keyboard, Hubert mourned the loss of his work keyboard. The little mechanical keyboard that he usually brought with him as part of his set up for most heists had to be left at home. Part of travelling light and working in a car meant forgoing the small luxuries and Hubert was never going to let something like a subpar keyboard stop him from hacking the door wide open.

State of the art security system or not, Hubert wormed his way his way through the layers of encryption. Lorenz had graciously converted his door locks into digital ones, which meant that with a few lines of code here and a few lines there, the front door swung open to greet Ferdinand and his suspicious bag like an old friend being welcomed home.

“I knew you were the right person to bring along,” Ferdinand’s smile was bright enough to power a whole city block. The force of it made Hubert’s cheeks warm like he was being sunburned- definitely not used to the full outward force of Ferdinand’s warmth and affection being directed at him and only him like this.

Ferdinand strolled in like he really owned the place, the wheels of his tote clattering loudly over the tiled floors of the main entrance way. Once inside, he casually removed his shoes and crouched over his tote, rummaging through its contents.

“What are you doing?” Hubert sighed as he closed the door.

“What do you mean?”

“Why are you removing your shoes?” 

“Because we are inside the house? I don’t want to track all the outside dirt and germs into the house. Not taking off your shoes would be disrespectful!” Ferdinand looked up at Hubert, offense written all over his face like the idea that you wouldn’t take off your shoes inside of a house was reprehensible.

“We have broken into someone’s house. Why would you care about tracking the outside, inside?” Hubert dragged a gloved hand down his face in exasperation. Why was Ferdinand like this?

“Hubert! I can’t believe you! I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that!” Ferdinand cried out in disbelief.

From the depths of the bag, Ferdinand pulled out a few permanent markers, and several large tins of what appeared to be generic, no name brand tea leaves. Hubert raised his eyebrows at the leaves. Ferdinand hated the cheap tea leaves that you could buy in bulk at the store- they were akin to drinking dirt, he had said once.

“What are you doing?” Hubert asked for the second time since entering the house. Lorenz had a number of prized artifacts and art pieces in the house- Hubert could spot three just from this entranceway. Were they not just going to make off with those pieces?

“You’ll see, Hubie! This is all a part of my twelve step plan to exact my revenge on Lorenz Gloucester.”

“Twelve?” Disbelief paled Hubert’s face even further than he already was. 

Without another word, Ferdinand scurried off into the depths of the house, an air of mischievousness about him that was entirely alien and frankly quite terrifying. “Oh ho! What do we have here? Coffee beans?” 

Hubert could hear the distinct sound of a ceramic container being opened and then followed by a sharp inhale. 

“Freshly roasted! And look here! A manual grinder!” The clatter of beans being poured into the grinder echoed loudly through the house. 

“...Are you making coffee?” Hubert asked as he wandered after Ferdinand into the kitchen, intrigued. He couldn’t help it, it had been a while since he had his last cup.    
  


“...I was just going to grind all of his beans and put them back.” Ferdinand had the decency to look sheepish as he started the hand crank to grind the beans. 

Hubert shot him a scandalized look. Beans had to be ground right before they were going to be brewed or else they would lose their freshness. Buying ground coffee was a cardinal sin in Hubert’s books. There was something in Ferdinand’s expression that told Hubert that Ferdinand very well knew this. 

Oh.

_ Oh. _

Hubert smirked in understanding and began rummaging through the cupboards for a mug and coffee filter. “That’s  _ very _ petty of you, Mr. von Aegir.” 

* * *

  
  


Dorothea Arnault did not think of herself as a particularly courageous person but she didn’t think she was particularly cowardly either. Unfortunately, she was caught between those two states right now, lingering in a busy hospital hallway. 

On the other side of a thin pane of glass, Dorothea can see a dainty woman in a hospital gown, light blue hair done up in a gentle braid sitting in a plastic chair. Dorothea didn’t recognize the woman in the chair at all but she wasn’t the focus of Dorothea’s attention, the woman sitting in the bed was.

Ingrid looked significantly better than when Dorothea saw her last, bleeding profusely all over the floor of the Galatea estate. She was still a little bit pale, hooked up to all kinds of different monitors and IV drips. A bit of a gauze and bandage could be seen peeking out from the loose collar of the hospital gown- a reminder of the events that transpired.

“Are you having doubts, Dorothea?” Petra’s voice was low, barely audible over the din of the hospital around them.

The thief’s presence was a steadying next to Dorothea. The two of them made the trip out from Arianrhod to Charndl that morning. Quite a bit of time had passed since  _ that  _ incident. Dorothea worried her bottom lip between her teeth. Maybe too much time. 

Whatever courage Dorothea thought she had was nearly gone. The longer that she stared at Ingrid, the smaller and smaller she felt. Doubts raced through her mind, clawing at her resolve. 

A calloused hand slipped into her own, and Dorothea looked down to see Petra intertwining their fingers together. Dorothea took a deep breath, she had to do this. 

She could do this.

“No, no. Well, yes. But this is something I have to do, for me.” Dorothea pursed her lips, trying her best to calm herself. This was just a conversation. A long overdue conversation, she felt, but a conversation, and Dorothea Arnault was the best at conversations.

Dorothea didn’t expect to be in a hospital again, at least not so soon after Petra’s trip to the hospital. The thought of Petra’s recent brush with death made her shudder- something Petra mistook for her being cold and let go of Dorothea’s hand in favour of wrapping an arm around her shoulders instead, letting Dorothea leech off of her warmth. 

While she wasn’t cold  _ per se _ , Dorothea still appreciated the gesture, drawing comfort from the thief’s presence. This was a concrete reminder that Petra was very much alive and very much right here with her. Her chest didn’t feel as tight, the day not nearly as grey as it had been when Dorothea had been in the hospital waiting for Petra.

She could do this.

The dainty visitor left after a few more minutes. The woman was thin and pale, her form made only more diminutive by the baggy hospital gown. Despite her current condition, the woman smiled cordially at Dorothea and Petra as she passed, disappearing further into the hospital.

Petra pressed the basket of fruit that they bought into Dorothea’s free hand and nodded encouragingly at her. “I will be waiting for you here. If you need to be leaving, I will be ready for you.”

Dorothea couldn’t help but smile at Petra. Beautiful, patient, wonderful Petra. The way that Petra believed in her unflinchingly was truly a marvel, if she had a fraction of that…. No, Petra’s faith in her would be enough.

With a deep breath, Dorothea stepped through the doorway and into the hospital room, knocking lightly on the open door. Ingrid’s head snapped up, gaze tearing away from the light snow that was beginning to fall outside. The blonde winced at the motion, clearly still in recovery.

“Dorothea.” Ingrid nodded stiffly in greeting, struggling to sit up straight in the bed. 

Dorothea repressed the urge to roll her eyes, even now, Ingrid had to put on a brave face. “Ingrid.” She set the basket of fruit on the little nightstand to the left of the bed. A vase of fresh flowers sat on the nightstand to the right, someone else had been by with gifts recently. One of the Blue Lions perhaps? Or maybe the other patient Dorothea had seen leave earlier.

A heavy silence fell over them as Dorothea took a seat in the recently vacated plastic chair. Ingrid fidgeted with the hospital bracelet around her wrist, eyes focused on the little bits of writing there, unwilling to meet Dorothea’s gaze. Well, Dorothea wasn’t going to be the one to break the silence, she leaned back cooly in her chair.

“How have you been?” Ingrid finally said. It was clear that she felt as awkward as she looked at the moment, opening and closing her mouth several times as she struggled with what to say.

“Oh you know,” Dorothea replied vaguely, “just keeping busy.”

“I uhm… I just wanted to say thank you.” Ingrid paused, thinking over her next words. “For helping with…” Ingrid made a roundabout waving gesture, “for you know.”

Dorothea smirked but decided to let it go without teasing Ingrid too much. “I assume that your friends picked up the remainders of that mess?”

“Oh, yes. Sylvain has been keeping me updated. Everything has been appropriately dealt with and Metodey is now secure behind bars.” Ingrid looked regretful about the whole incident.

“And…?” Dorothea prodded gently, “I assume that Sylvain has taken all the credit?”

“Yes, as he is known to do.” Ingrid sighed heavily, some things never changed.

“Perfect.” It seemed like everything was wrapped up nicely then. Another anonymous good deed well done- Dorothea couldn’t let Edelgard have all the good karma now.

“Hey, why did you get involved?” The question was genuine, curiosity sparking in Ingrid’s eyes. A swirling mixture of blue and doubt and confusion.

Dorothea sighed heavily, mimicking Ingrid’s earlier expression, “Sylvain made an irresistible offer to us.” 

“That’s bullshit.”

The force to which Ingrid made that statement caught Dorothea off guard, making her blink in surprise before giggling. “Okay, you got me there. It’s nice having something over on Sylvain, but that’s just an added bonus. I guess I couldn’t just turn my back knowing you were in trouble.” 

“But why? We’re well… you know…” Ingrid shifted around on the bed uncomfortably. 

“We may be broken up Ingrid, but you were my best friend for a number of years.” Then in a softer voice, nearly inaudible, “You  _ were  _ my everything.” Dorothea took a deep breath, steadying her fraying nerves and fleeting courage. Her voice came out a little hoarse and shaky but she pressed on. Her thoughts finally clicking into place as the words came tumbling out of her mouth. 

It felt a little bit like a train rolling down the tracks and Dorothea was laying down the tracks one piece ahead of its wheels. “Even after all these years, I would be lying to say if I didn’t care about your wellbeing a little bit. I think that it’s nice to know that you’re out there in the world somewhere, doing well apart from me.” 

“I… I didn’t know you felt that way-”

“I didn’t either!” Dorothea laughed brightly, feeling lighter than she had in many years. The realization was sudden and freeing all at once, like chains that had been holding her down to the ground had finally snapped- except she never knew that those chains existed to begin with. 

Perhaps she had really been ready to move on all these years and she was just waiting for herself to realize it. 

Dorothea held up a hand to interrupt whatever Ingrid was going to say next, “I want to make it clear that I have no romantic intentions. What is in the past is in the past and I am not here chasing after the ghosts of what once was.”

Ingrid swallowed slowly, “Of course. I agree, we were different people then and we are different people now.” She shifted again, waging an internal battle that Dorothea was not privy to. “I want to apologize.”

Dorothea quirked an eyebrow upwards, this was unexpected.

“I know that things didn’t end the way that we wanted and I wanted to apologize for my behaviour-” Ingrid paused, startled by the gentle smile that now graced Dorothea’s face. “-why are you smiling like that?” Ingrid huffed, crossing her arms with almost a childlike expression.

“Oh, Ingrid. You need not apologize. We broke up, things were bound to get a little bit ugly. My behaviour wasn’t impeccable either. And maybe a few months ago, I would have wanted to hear these words, but today, I think I-”

The sight of Petra through the room window, just patiently sitting in the hallway. There was a slight sway to her form, probably swinging her feet back and forth. Her intelligent eyes scanned the hallway, cataloguing everything and assessing her surroundings. She was politely averting her eyes away from the window though, trying her best to give Dorothea and Ingrid some privacy.

Brilliant and patient Petra who was willing to put her whole world on hold for Dorothea. Lovely and wonderful Petra, so understanding and caring and always willing to give her all. Petra, who had managed to sneak into Dorothea’s heart and carefully hold her close.

“-Dorothea?” Ingrid asked, puzzled.

“Sorry, sorry.” Dorothea smiled, “Where was I? Oh right, you need not apologize, Ingrid. I found my closure, I just didn’t realize it.” She got up quickly and the scrape of the plastic chair on the tile made Petra look up, making direct eye contact with Dorothea. 

Petra smiled back at her proudly.

“I have to go now. Thank you for everything.” Dorothea straightened out the lapel of her long coat, smoothing out any wrinkles that came from sitting down. “Please try to keep out of trouble and get well soon, alright?” 

“Oh, uhm, yes of course. Thank you for the fruit basket. I wish you all the best.” Ingrid waited a beat, “You stay safe too, Dorothea.”

Dorothea inclined her head and strode out of the room. She suddenly felt giddy, a novel sort of excitement running through her veins with all the sudden realizations that she had made.

She was excited. Petra was waiting for her.

Petra practically leapt to her feet at the sight of Dorothea returning, Dorothea returning to  _ her. _ Dorothea could almost see all the different thoughts and worries running through her mind while she waited in the hallway. 

Ever the polite gentlewoman, Petra offered Dorothea’s her arm which she took with a winning smile. “You are doing okay?”

In a rush of sudden courage- courage that Dorothea never thought that she would need given her profession and role in heists, Dorothea leaned over to Petra and pressed a gentle kiss to Petra’s cheek.

“Absolutely perfect now.”

* * *

“Why are you stealing Lorenz’s tupperware?” Hubert frowned at the sight of Ferdinand stuffing the tote that he had brought with him with a mixture of lids and containers.

“Can you believe this man stores his lids and his containers in two separate cabinets?” Ferdinand cried out indignantly, continuing with his heist undeterred. 

Hubert paused, trying to think of how the tupperware containers were organized back at the home base-

“Storing them with the lid on the proper container is the best way to do it! How else will you be able to tell which lid goes where?” By the looks of it, Ferdinand was stealing half the lids and then the opposite half of the containers. 

Lorenz was going to have a  _ very  _ difficult time trying to pack up anything in these containers after they were done. 

“I’ve taken all the batteries from every remote that I could find and replaced every charging cable with one that is a touch too short- he’s going to need to sit on the floor next to the outlet if he wants to charge his phone and use it at the same time.” Hubert held up his spoils of war, about a dozen cables of different varieties.

“And the wireless charging dock that I saw in his bedroom?” 

Hubert held up a power cable, clipped at one end with the multitool that he took with him everywhere, “It’s truly  _ wireless _ .”

“You are a truly devious man, Mr. von Vestra,” Ferdinand smirked at him in such a way that Hubert felt his insides warm, like he had just chugged a large cup of coffee. His last cup of coffee- courtesy of the freshly ground beans from Lorenz had been imbibed nearly a half an hour ago.

“I never half ass anything, Mr. von Aegir. If we are truly here to make Lorenz’s life highly inconvenient, I will make it the most inconvenient.” Hubert returned the smirk. He was well experienced in the art of inconvenience. It was often his weapon of choice when firing back at Caspar and Dorothea’s little prank wars. 

Speaking of which- he opened Lorenz’s fridge and removed the nearly full bottle of milk and emptied the majority of it into one of the tupperwares that Ferdinand had set out on the counter, next to other pilfered containers that were already full of what Ferdinand assured him were some of the finest tea leaves that could be bought. Ferdinand already swapped out Lorenz’s tea leaves for the store bought dirt after they dealt with the coffee beans.

Hubert left just enough milk in the jug for maybe half a bowl of cereal. From living with Caspar all these years, he knew exactly how irritating it was to find a jug of milk in the fridge and nary a sip left in the bottom and no replacement in sight. 

On that note, he ought to do the same with all the products in Lorenz’s bathroom. The irritation that Hubert felt when he was in the middle of a shower only to discover there wasn’t nearly enough shampoo to lather all his hair appropriately was incomparable. (It was why he always kept two bottles of shampoo in his shower and regularly restocked his bathroom.)

“Oh? What do we have here?” Ferdinand’s voice carried over the kitchen island.

There was the noise of wood scraping against wood, was Ferdinand just tearing up the wooden cabinetry now? Hubert made it halfway around the island before a loud blaring siren resounded, emanating from the depths of the island.

“Ferdinand?” Hubert called out as he pulled out his phone, tapping away furiously at the house’s alarm system- everything was still offline as far as he could tell. There wasn’t even anything that was specifically located inside the kitchen. Hubert had no idea what security feature this was, he didn’t like that.

“Turn it off Hubert!” Ferdinand scrambled backwards, skidding across the floor in his haste to get away from the sound. They could barely hear each other over the din of the siren.

“I can’t! There’s nothing on the system that has been triggered! What did you do?” Hubert snapped as he finally crouched next to Ferdinand and looked in at the open cabinet.

Ferdinand had slid the back panelling of the cabinet to the side, revealing a gleaming metal interior that was now flashing with a bright red light. A biometric scanner, Hubert noted, recognition sparking in his eyes- there were tiny little scanners embedded into the upper seam of the space. 

Scowling, Hubert pulled Ferdinand away from the screaming cabinet. “It’s some kind of safety bunker. I think you found the secret entrance.” He wouldn’t have recognized the stupid thing if he hadn’t been looking at similar bunkers some time ago. Kronya’s recent appearances as of late had put everyone on edge, and  _ maybe _ Hubert had hypothetically looked into some options.

The whole bloody thing was hooked up to something entirely separate from the main system, Hubert would be able to deal with it, he would just need time. “Get your things together, we’re getting out of here.” 

Thankfully, Ferdinand complied and hastily swept the items that they had already swapped around into the tote. This gave Hubert the space to work, running the necessary programs to try to get a handle on the system. He would need his laptop for this. 

It took him another few seconds to slide the cabinet backing back into place. Satisfied nothing seemed out of place for the moment, Hubert grabbed the tote from Ferdinand, the wheels clacking more heavily now across the floor. “Out to the car, the neighbours are probably calling the authorities by now.” 

Ferdinand cast a look around the house one last time, ensuring that they had left things as they found it- mostly. He wished that he could have done more but alas, this would have to do. Mutely, the car beeped a greeting as they clambered back into it, the tote bag tossed haphazardly into the back seat.

Sirens sounded in the distance, they needed to get out of there. Lake Teutates was not the most ideal place for a high speed car chase- the idyllic lakeside town provided no cover and the car that they were in was not suitable for any off road driving. 

The car reversed out of the driveway and peeled down the road at a non-suspicious speed. They needed to get away but Ferdinand would be damned if they looked desperate while doing it. Fortunately, the authorities in this lakeside down were definitely not used to thieves of the Black Eagles caliber and Ferdinand had them driving off into the distance quite safely.

Hubert remained silent as Ferdinand maneuvered down the bustling little downtown shopping area of Lake Teutates, losing themselves among the afternoon crowd. The hacker was busy meticulously erasing any trace of their presence in Lorenz’s house on the virtual end of things. Fortunately, the dumb little bunker uploaded all of its data to a cloud so all Hubert had to do was hack into the cloud and delete everything, make it seem like the bunker was malfunctioning and setting off false alarms. 

At last, Hubert leaned back into the passenger’s seat with a long sigh and closed his laptop. His back was a little bit stiff with the way that he had been sitting ramrod straight in his seat, intensely focused on his laptop. A gentle hand ran over his left shoulder, easily finding some of the tense knots. Even one handed, Ferdinand’s shoulder rubs were something of legend and Hubert turned away to stare out the window, afraid that the rising redness in his face would betray his usual composure.

“So…” Ferdinand began, trailing off in a way that was strangely out of character for him and made Hubert turn to face him.

It was only when Hubert met his smiling eyes that he realized that he had been played into turning back around.

Scowling, Hubert folded his arms. “What is it?” This had better not be another ridiculous plot for more vengeance.

“I found a membership card to the coffee bean roastery in Lorenz’s desk.” Ferdinand grinned and with the flourish of a magician, pulled a pristine white card from Hubert’s ear. “The fine print says that every visit comes with a coffee sampling and a free bag of freshly roasted beans.”

“Well, Mr. von Aegir,” Hubert plucked the card out of his hand and turned it over to examine the print on the back. “I guess it would be a shame if we didn’t use this card.”

“Oh?”

“We can’t leave your vengeance incomplete now can we?” 

Ferdinand’s smile made this entire thing worth it (and the fresh bag of beans that came with it of course).

* * *

  
  


“Byleth?” 

“Hmm?” Byleth mumbled sleepily, she was moments away from drifting off into nothingness when Edelgard’s voice called out to her. 

Edelgard looked down at the peaceful face of Byleth, curled against Edelgard’s side. She had made a full recovery, but Linhardt insisted that she take it easy for at least a week, just in case. Her habit of overworking was not a secret. 

So the week had gone by restfully. It was rare to get some true down time honestly. The other members of the Black Eagles came and went as they pleased, off to handle their own business here in Arianrhod and other places. Edelgard took the opportunity to not only look after Byleth’s every need but also begin her research and planning into their next location. Arianrhod was beginning to grow… a little stale.

They didn’t like to stay in the same city for too long not just for safety reasons but because the Black Eagles themselves liked to keep busy. New heists to plan, new things to see, new people to mark.

Byleth was surprisingly compliant with the whole thing. The only thing that she requested was that they go fishing at some point in the future- another thing on the list for Edelgard to plan out despite knowing nothing about fishing. Her search history was now peppered with strange fish questions. 

Fortunately, Byleth seemed content to just lounge around the base- more often than not, Edelgard would look up from whatever she was doing and find Byleth just looking at her, with a wistful look on her face. Whenever she was asked what was wrong, Byleth would just smile mysteriously at Edelgard.

When she wasn’t seemingly staring at Edelgard, Byleth would zone out with her brows furrowed in deep concentration, leaving Edelgard wondering what she could possibly be thinking about so intensely.

The look on Byleth’s face now made whatever else that Edelgard wanted to say catch in her throat. 

Byleth needed to rest. 

The words that threatened to tumble out of her mouth stills. She could wait for now.

  
Gently, Edelgard leaned over and kissed Byleth’s temple.

“It’s alright. You go to sleep.”

* * *

Claude frowned as he sipped from the cup of tea that he had just added… he triple checked the label on the container, ‘sugar’. It definitely wasn’t sugar.

“Hnggggggg, this doesn’t fit!” Lorenz cried out in exasperation as he threw down the puzzle book that he had been working. 

“I thought you were good at these puzzles,” Claude commented casually as he reached for a cookie on the plate set out in front of him. Suspiciously, he inspected the baked good with a skeptical eye for a moment before deciding that it was safe to eat.

“I am!” Lorenz huffed and folded his arms stubbornly, leaning back in his chair.

The two of them were seated around the dining table at Lorenz’s vacation home in Lake Teutates. Claude originally paid the man no mind when Lorenz invited him to visit him but when Lorenz called, paranoid that something had happened to his beloved house. 

Apparently, he had returned one day to find cops meandering around the property because some kind of an alarm had been triggered. However, Lorenz couldn’t find any trace of any alarm being triggered and simply put it off as a one of those pranks where the cops were called mistakenly. But apparently, he began finding little things were off around the place.

Claude had half a mind to tell him that the place was haunted and just leave before things became too troublesome but this had the markings of something far more entertaining all over it. 

Interest piqued, Claude picked up the puzzle book and examined it as he chewed on the cookie. It was hard to tell, but he was pretty certain that someone had tampered with the book, using a black pen of some sort to alter some of the puzzles- adding numbers to spaces that should be blank, so the whole thing was rendered unsolvable. The alterations were done very well, Claude noted, the font a near perfect match for the numbers printed on the actual page. Someone of high calibre had done this.

He scrutinized the puzzle book further, perhaps...

Lorenz poured himself a cup of tea and stirred in a heavy spoonful of the ‘sugar’ with a long sigh. 

Claude watched him closely, heavily invested in the whole situation now. 

There was a near comical beat that passed after Lorenz took a long gulp- his brain finally catching up with his taste buds. The way that Lorenz’s eyes bulged as he scrambled to the kitchen sink to spit out the foul tasting liquid was absolutely worth every monotonous dealing that Lorenz dragged him into.

“That’s not sugar!” Lorenz cried out, aghast, pointing an accusatory finger in Claude and the sugar container’s direction.

“I know,” Claude replied with a smirk and took a pointed sip of the salty tea.

“Why didn’t you say anything?” 

“And miss out on this? Not a chance.” Claude picked up another cookie and turned it over in his fingers. Perhaps he ought to send a certain redheaded grifter a gift basket for this entertaining exchange.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a while! But I finally have an update yay! 
> 
> I debated the format of this chapter for a while, if I liked having the serious bits interspersed with the Ferdibert shenanigans or not but ultimately decided to keep it like this.
> 
> The holiday season has been busy but restful and while I don't know if I will be able to maintain my regular posting schedule moving forward please know that I am still slowly but surely writing the chapters! (This new semester will be very busy with things- I have a thesis to write which kinda takes the joy out of writing in general lol)
> 
> I also am very unwisely starting a second multichap fic lmao with a very different feel just so my brain can hop around different vibes instead of being stuck here in this one. (One shots are also happening somewhere in the background but who knows when those will be complete lol).
> 
> Thank you for reading and sticking with me this long! I fully intend to finish this fic, I just don't know when that will actually happen now that I don't have a regular schedule lol. If you would like to keep up with me, I'm over on twitter at [bardigrade](https://twitter.com/bardigrade). Sometimes I post little sneak peeks and crumbs over there, usually I just scream about things lmao
> 
> As always, kudos and comments are greatly appreciated- which reminds me I will get to responding to those soon! 
> 
> Love y'all <3 stay safe out there and I hope to see you again soon :D


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